Racism or Overeaction???

If this is your first time reading my blog, I think it would be best to emphasize that I am the last person on this earth who is going to pass judgment. Having made my fair share of mistakes, I have realized that everyone is fallible and, although society somehow seems to thrive on the activity, one should never pass judgment. Unless they are at the place of whatever event people are judging as it’s happening, one never truly knows. Even then, I have learned that you believe half of what you see and none of what you hear. In keeping with this mantra, I am always inclined to give people the benefit of the doubt until I have heard every side of the story. Even after all the info is presented to me, I like to wait for a while before developing any final thoughts. Believe me, it’s only after repeatedly jumping to conclusions or impulsively judging with emotion and having to humbly eat my words later on that has brought me to adhere to this rule of thumb. So when I first heard of the situation regarding the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the most prominent academic figures in, not only the African American community but the American community at large, I knew better than to jump to conclusions regarding the situation.

For those of you who are unfamiliar with Mr. Gates’ academic profile, here is just a small sample of the man’s accomplishments. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African American and African Research at Harvard University. He is editor in chief of the Root.com, the first on line scholarly resource in the field of African American and Africana studies. He has also co-edited Africana: The Encyclopedia of the African American and African Experience. He is also co-editor of the eight volume biographical encyclopedia African American Biographical Encyclopedia which was published by Oxford press in 2008. He has produced numerous award winning documentaries for PBS to include, my personal favorite, “African American Lives Part 1 and 2.” His numerous books have earned him much deserved respect not to mention prestigious accolades such as the American Book Award. Having written for respected publications such as Time magazine, The New Yorker and The New York Times, he has long been viewed as one of if not the authority on the African and African American historic experience in all of its forms.

To say that Mr. Gates is an academic heavyweight would be an understatement. Muhammad Ali might have “handcuffed lightning, thrown thunder in jail” but it is the acumen and heightened perspective of people such as Mr. Gates who would most likely make the charges stick. In other words, one could argue that Mr. Gates is just as influential to the collective psyche of African America as icons such as Mr. Ali. It is because of the importance and influence of Mr. Gates that I must respectfully and humbly question exactly why Mr. Gates reacted in the way he did following the events of a couple of weeks ago. Now, again, I am not judging the actions of Mr. Gates. If anything, I can empathize with the situation in which he’d found himself. Frankly, I’m sure you could as well. Imagine coming home from a long overseas journey as he did right before the incident occurred. For the last thirty-six hours, you have dealt with long lines, delayed flights, possibly customs issues, bad airline food. You’re tired because haven’t been able to sleep with all the turbulence from the flight and you just want to get to your bed. Finally, you show up to your home only to realize that you have locked yourself out? Needless to say, we would all be a little perturbed by the situation and vulnerable to some kind of emotional breakdown. Did that happen? I don’t know, I wasn’t there. What I do know is that it is very possible that all the aforementioned scenarios could have been factors in Mr. Gates reacting the way that he did. There could also be events transpiring in the man’s life of which we are unaware. This situation was exacerbated by the nature of the situation carrying the suttle implication of racial profiling. And still, even taking all this into consideration, I still am compelled to question Mr. Gates' behavior. Yes, one could argue that Sgt. Crowley, the arresting officer, could have acted with a bit more restraint. Initially, that is what I thought. Then I read the police report. Assuming that the report is not a forgery, it seems that Mr. Gates was given several chances to abstain from the verbal abuse he was directing at the officer before the arrest took place. Even if you view the police report from a skeptical point of view and subscribe possibility that the officer wrote it out the way he did as a means of covering his own culpability, the fact is that I would expect more from a man who will be remembered as one of the most insightful and revered historians of our time than I would a cop. Even if Sgt. Crowley was in the wrong regarding this particular situation, which I’m not sure he was, the burden of tolerance lies on the shoulders of Mr. Gates because he is, if for no other reason, a person of tremendous inspiration. Youths of all backgrounds would do right by adopting him as a mentor or even role model. Thus, that influence can only be truly realized through dignity and grace…two virtues which I have lacked on more than one occasion and you probably have as well. Unfortunately, I think so has Mr. Gates in this situation. It comes down to a misunderstanding gone terribly wrong. But the person responsible bridging the gap of misunderstanding is not the one wearing the badge. It’s the role model.

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