Henry Louis Gates is a distinguished and prominent Harvard University faculty professor who happens to be Black. He has lived in his home for 10 years in Cambridge, has been the director of Harvard’s W.E. DuBois Institute for African and African American Research, and joined the faculty in 1991. He was arrested on July 16, 2009, at his house for disorderly conduct.
The city of Cambridge on July 21, 2009 dropped the disorderly conduct charge and issued a statement saying the arrest “was regrettable and unfortunate.” Basically, the incident was a big misunderstanding, but many of his friends and supporters feel that his treatment was a result of his race.
The police have their interpretation of the story and they feel they were justified for their actions. They felt that Professor Gates was disrespectful to them, and limited their ability to do their job by raising his voice. As the officer was leaving, Gates asked the police officer for his name and badge number, and the officer became upset and handcuffed Gates on his front porch.
In his report, the officer claimed that Gates “exhibited loud and tumultuous behavior” but Gates interpretation of the events are different. Gates says, he was shocked to find himself being questioned and shocked that the conversation continued after he showed his identification. Some of Gates’ colleagues believe that the arrest is part of a pattern of racial profiling in Cambridge and around the country.
Many experts around the country believe that Gates’ arrest points to broader racial disparities in the criminal justice system. It was obvious that the Cambridge police abused their power when they arrested Gates on his front porch. There were a number of different options, which the police could have used to defuse a contentious incident.
“If you look at every stage of the criminal justice system from initial police contact, all the way through sentencing and incarceration, you see African Americans are disproportionately impacted by each stage,” says Ryan King of Sentencing Project. The police mindset when it comes to a Blackman is they are guilty first and then it is their responsibility to prove their innocence. The reason the police officer continued to question Gates was because he did not trust the credibility of his identification.
Gates was correct when he asked the police officer was he being questioned so intensely because he was Black. Gates asked the officer, “Why are you doing this? Is it because I’m a Blackman and you’re a White officer. I don’t understand why you don’t believe this is my house.”
It happens every day in the inner city where Blackmen are questioned and harassed because they are Black. When the normal behavior of the police officer encounters a Blackman from a different class, the treatment is the same. Profiling is when police officers use a set of characteristics to identify an entire group.
Race should be used as a descriptor and not a prescriptor. When it is used as a prescriptor, it stereotypes a certain segment of our population and puts everyone in a category. Profiling is extremely hard to prove, but when an individual is arrested on his front porch after showing his identification, there is something wrong in that situation.
There is something fundamentally wrong with the mindset of the officers, because there was more that one officer at the location. It was obvious that no one was thinking at the time of the incident, and the incident was a big misunderstanding. It is a major embarrassment to the city, when they have to admit that the officers were wrong with their decision. They are holding their breath that this incident can be swept under the rug.
Nevertheless, the system of racism is extremely prevalent in every police department in the country. There are mistakes and abuses in the system everyday, and innocent victims are incarcerated. There is a need for better community relations in every community in the country.
When the police know the members and residents in the community, they can do a better job. The better the police can do their job, the less misunderstandings will exist, when they serve their community.
