Henry Louis Gates Jr, Descendent of Revolutionary War Free Negro Fighter John Redman, Gets a Lesson in American Liberty

UPDATE: TUES. 6PM The charges have been dropped. Anne

See Gates chastises officer after authorities agree to drop criminal charge via Boston Globe.

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We have more facts about the arrest of Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, the 'country's most important black academic', according to The Daily Beast.

A distinguished, proud American, with DNA-confirmed lineage to John Redman, a Free Negro who fought in the Revolutionary War and 49 honorary degrees, from institutions including the University of Pennsylvania, Dartmouth College, Harvard University, New York University, University of Massachusetts-Boston, Williams College, Emory University, Howard University, University of Toronto, and the University of Benin could not keep himself out of jail last week.

Reading from Professor Gates bio at Harvard: Professor Gates served as Chair of the Department of African and African American Studies at Harvard from 1991 to 2006. He serves on the boards of the New York Public Library, the Whitney Museum, Lincoln Center Theater, Jazz at Lincoln Center, the Aspen Institute, the Brookings Institution, the Studio Museum of Harlem, the NAACP Legal Defense Fund, and the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences at Stanford.

The events leading up to the Gates arrest are (also reported early this am on my post from last night) that Professor Gates was trying to get into his own house, with the help of his airport driver, when he returned from a trip to China.

via Wired.comA neighbor called the police, 'concerned' about a break-in. Professor Gates apparently uses a cane, for what it's worth. We have no word on whether he and his neighbor even speak or share any grievances. The neighbor is a hundraiser at Harvard, where Professor Gates is also employed.

There is no dispute that there was a lot of drama going on, and I'll say nothing about it. Informed parties will sort out a final resolution to this scandalous incident.

I've read the comments on today's Boston Globe and they are enlightening, as a reminder of all the murky present and past issues concerning the topic of police and African American men; and also police rights vs citizen rights in America.

Cooler Heads Could Have Difused Conflict

My question is "why no intervention", even at the police station? Unless Professor Gates was threatening everyone in sight, there is always another solution to these tense, difficult situations.

I believe that most of us can understand the outrage any of would feel, having the police arrive when we're in our own home.

Clearly, Professor Gates has lived a scholarly, brilliant life studying, making enormous contributions to American culture. He has also lived the experience of being profiled, as an African American man. The police do not dispute profiling, as a 'necessary' part of police work. I'll have to check where the Supreme Court stands on this topic.

Without condoning any of Professor Gates's behavior or 'attitude' towards the police, I believe he didn't have to go through the humiliating experience of being 'booked', fingerprinted and ultimately charged at the police station.

Police are taught to intervene in heated situations. Superiors at the police station are able to change the course of events, when reality doesn't justify an arrest.

Anne's Trip to the Police Station

Many years ago, my roommate and I were picked up in Harlem about 1pm on a sunny, Saturday afternoon in July. I met D, who was an audiologist at Montefiore Hospital in the Bronx (now she's an MD), and was doing volunteer work that day on 124th Street.

We were on our way to the Apollo theater with her boyfriend to get tickets, when we were detained by the police. I was wearing a short, summer skirt, loose top and flat shoes. Diane was dressed similarily.

We don't need to hash out all the details here, but the three of us did end up at the station and were seriously concerned that we would go through the Professor Gates experience. I'm not sure how the two police officers intended to charge us with solicitation, aka prostitution, when we were only walking down the street.

The one officer told us that there was NO reason why a white woman would be in Harlem, if she wasn't a hooker. Period. I protested vehemently, moreso than D. We both had IDs, hers from the hospital and mine from Saks Fifth Avenue.

My situation was so long ago, but in a nutshell, I was able to make a phone call to a lawyer, and someone at the precinct agreed to speak with my attorney via phone. Bottom line, my friend told the police officer that they were making a terrible mistake, that neither D or I was a prostitute, that we both had ID and professional jobs, etc.

Our lawyer explained that he was jumping in a cab to get to the station. I know that he was calm, collected and factual in the call, but he also make it very clear that we would sue the NYPD, if they actually booked us without cause.

Arbitration Works

That ended the official police proceeding. Diane and I were released, and we resolved the entire matter in a Civilian Review Board arbitration hearing that operated in New York.

I insisted that the two officers be transferred out of Harlem, which happened. They also lost two days pay, and I (not Diane), being the one with the fiery spirit, had to spend a day with the Lieutenant of the precinct, in an effort to understand life in Harlem from his point of view.

Whatever he did that day (not dodging bullets), I went with him. I saw a pretty dicey side of New York.

My point in sharing this story is to say that in the Gates case, cooler heads in Boston could have prevailed. There were opportunities for intervention in a heated situation, and none were exercised, even at the police station.

Now we have a national/international bouhaha -- which is perhaps good for the country in prompting dialogue on race, but I don't think so, at least not using Professor Gates as the catalyst. Certainly we all know that racial problems persist in America, 'Yes We Can' or no 'Yes We Can'.

While I won't think twice about taking a side on slanderous talk like FreeRepublic.com's attacks on Malia's peace shirt, I have no right/wrong opinion on the Gates arrest. There's enough hot air to float a fleet of balloons around Boston and the blogosphere.

My critique is on the police process itself.

Officers are trained to defuse situations, not to let them accelerate into an international incident. At the station, with the likes of Professor Ogletree involved, it's a crying shame that cooler heads couldn't have spared Professor Gates the indignity of being charged.

Police officers let people go every day of the week. I've personally heard the drunk driving release story five times in 2009. Police make 'arbitrary' decisions every day.

America should be leading by example today. Instead, we have an international embarassment on our hands, one that reinforces just about every stereotype concerning racial relations in this country. What a pity! Anne

More reading: Racial talk swirls with Gates arrest The Boston Globe

Skip's Racist Wakeup Call The Daily Beast

Addendum: I just posted the opening info from Professor Gates's Harvard bio. What an interesting factoid I just discovered: In 2006, he was inducted into the Sons of the American Revolution, after he traced his lineage back to John Redman, a Free Negro who fought in the Revolutionary War.