Policing While White UPDATED w/ Original Police Report

I'm going to work with the assumption that you have already heard about Henry Louis Gates-- arrested after a neighbor saw him trying to un-stick his front door and assumed there was a robbery in progress. Gates was arrested and charged with disorderly conduct, and the charges were quickly dropped.

Upon reading the first account of the story, I was sympathetic to Gates-- imagine just getting home from a really long trip, and then you can't even get into your own house. You manage to pry open the stuck door, and in the process a neighbor notices you and calls 911. I felt very sorry for him, right up until I got to the part where he asked the police "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" OH, GAG ME!!!!! Seriously? Are you THAT hung up on your own racial identity that you can't understand that your neighbor-- who probably knew you were out of town for awhile and was kindly keeping an eye on your house-- probably thought they were doing you a favor? And when asked to accompany a police officer outside because you're currently a robbery suspect, instead of cooperating and explaining the misunderstanding, your first reaction is to assume that ANYBODY CARES what freaking color you are?!? According to the officers report, "Gates continued to yell at me, accusing me of racial bias and continued to tell me that I had not heard the last of him." So instead of clearing things up quickly, Gates exacerbated his situation by playing the tired, worn, frayed, and faded race card, sprinkled with threats. If someone was threatening you, and refusing to cooperate with you, you'd probably arrest them for disorderly conduct, too. Gates claimed that when asked for identification, he showed two forms of ID. He doesn't say when. One wonders if it was before or after telling the police officer, "You don't know who your [sic] messing with!" or "Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside."

Did I mention that the charges were dropped? Even before they were, Gates was only facing a $150 fine, at worst. Really, not a bad fee for wasting an officer's time with a temper tantrum. But the charges were dropped, and Gates agreed that it was a "just resolution." Now Gates wants an official apology from Sgt. James Crowley, the officer who arrested him. Crowley refuses. I don't blame him.

Gates believes that "Crowley was clearly responding to racial profiling and 'couldn't understand a black man standing up for his rights, right in his face.'" Gates doesn't seem to have considered the idea that perhaps Crowley didn't want anyone right in his face-- particularly someone who was behaving so unpleasantly. Instead, Gates believes that Crowley is simply a "rogue policeman," unable to see beyond a racial bias. Maybe if Gates apologized for his behavior, something along the lines of, "I was very upset, as anyone else would have been, and I let myself get carried away with my emotions. I am very sorry about the things I said to Sgt. Crowley," Sgt. Crowley might feel a little bit more like he had something for which to apologize.

Of course now, the whole debacle is being used as an example of race-relations in America. "[Callie] Crossley said many people criticizing Gates for overreacting or for losing his cool have never been profiled by authorities because of their race." So here's where personal experience comes in: No, I've never been profiled because of my race. However, I have been profiled for being a young person in a little red sports car late at night. I got off work at 11pm every night and had to drive home through several small towns (famous for generating most of their revenue through traffic tickets) on my way home. I got pulled over at least once a week. I only got ticketed once. (I had a headlight out-- it had literally died the day before, and it was another two days until payday, but owing to my spectacular luck, it just wasn't soon enough!) Before long, I had the procedure memorized. Hand over my license and proof of insurance, then answer the inane questions as to why I was out so late. And I learned something very important and very helpful: The more cooperative you are, the quicker the ordeal is over. Besides, even if I was being profiled, it's not like the officer was going to admit to it. But just because some of them may have profiled me, doesn't mean that all of them did. This is where Gates gets himself into trouble. Do some police officers profile black people? I'm sure they do. Do all of them? No. And there is no way for Gates to know which kind of policeman is which. Arresting a black person is not the same as arresting a person because they are black.

In response to the matter, Al Sharpton said, "I have heard of driving while Black and even shopping while Black but now even going to your own home while Black is a new low in police community affairs."

I think that perhaps now it is time for us to bring attention to the unfortunate plight of those who are "Policing While White."

UPDATE: here's a link to the police report