Black and blue and still stupid, too
By Kevin Dayhoff July 29, 2009 – August 5, 2009
By Kevin Dayhoff July 29, 2009 – August 5, 2009
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Almost three weeks have passed since Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar, was arrested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside of Harvard University…
And yet, there are folks who seem to not be able to let go.
“Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing ‘two males with backpacks on the porch,’ with one ‘wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry.’”
As for the rest of the story, the details are easily found in print, on the Internet and on television – as well as analysis of the incident – and an analysis of the analysis, ad nauseum.
Hopefully by the time you read this column the country will have collectively rediscovered that our nation is involved in two foreign wars, a recalcitrant economy in the toilet, and a raging debate over healthcare reform – to name just a few of the challenges.
At the time of Dr. Gates’ arrest,one headline screamed, “Harvard Prof Arrested; Gates Tried To Get Into Own House.”
However, as more facts come to light, the incident began to remind many of the infamous Duke lacrosse players’ debacle some time ago in which an African American female claimed that she had been assaulted the lacrosse team at a party.
Race, class, old wounds, and privilege immediately came into play. The media, along with other individuals who should know better, such as a large number of the Duke University faculty, jumped to broad-sweeping horrid conclusions before all the facts were known. Then there were extreme consequences.
After all the facts became clear, it became apparent that no crime had been committed except for extreme stupidity on the part of a whole host of bad actors.
As for the recent incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts; in days gone by, in an era long before the cable news and blogosphere-overloaded information – or disinformation – dissemination architecture, the story may have been lived and died in one or two news cycles.
However, the story quickly grew legs when cable news seized it as yet another example of law and order lunacy, not unlike last summer’s nightmare of police officers breaking into the home of a popular small town Maryland mayor and shooting his two dogs. Oops.
It is the latest saga of bad public relations for law enforcement in our country. Nevermind the detail that the facts do not support the hype in the case of the Cambridge incident.
Whether the example is speed cameras, red light cameras; or the recent incident where members of one law enforcement agency performed an undercover drug operation in Statesboro, NC, in which they arrested a member of another agency’s undercover operation; members of the public are continuing to be pre-disposed to believe that law enforcement in our country is becoming a bad Saturday Nigh Live skit.
Everyone immediately analyzed the recent Cambridge incident through the prism of his or her own experiences. Even those of us who grew up in small town America, where the local police officer was your friend, and helped you put your chain back on your bicycle; began to recall bad memories of our own war stories of dealing with overly officious adrenaline-driven police officers with the common sense of a goldfish.
The police report was scoured with a fine toothcomb looking for clues as to what really happened. The report may be found here (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/23/0498.001.pdf.)
In the final analysis, President Barack Obama lost his script as the great uniter and weighed in badly as the great divider at a news conference last week, and further disseminated bad information by saying the Cambridge police department acted stupidly.
Never one to miss an opportunity to use race to promote himself, the Rev. Al Sharpton also weighed-in.
In the final stage, most all the finger-pointers have egg on their face and are walking back what they said in haste and spinning it for all its worth.
The news media was only too happy to help the president walk back his unfortunate hasty words, when it was revealed that Dr. Gates may have, in reality, precipitated and participated in his own victimization by his unprofessional and uncivil treatment of the police officer involved in the incident.
…
Almost three weeks have passed since Dr. Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar, was arrested in Cambridge, Massachusetts, just outside of Harvard University…
And yet, there are folks who seem to not be able to let go.
“Cambridge police say they responded to the well-maintained two-story home after a woman reported seeing ‘two males with backpacks on the porch,’ with one ‘wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry.’”
As for the rest of the story, the details are easily found in print, on the Internet and on television – as well as analysis of the incident – and an analysis of the analysis, ad nauseum.
Hopefully by the time you read this column the country will have collectively rediscovered that our nation is involved in two foreign wars, a recalcitrant economy in the toilet, and a raging debate over healthcare reform – to name just a few of the challenges.
At the time of Dr. Gates’ arrest,one headline screamed, “Harvard Prof Arrested; Gates Tried To Get Into Own House.”
However, as more facts come to light, the incident began to remind many of the infamous Duke lacrosse players’ debacle some time ago in which an African American female claimed that she had been assaulted the lacrosse team at a party.
Race, class, old wounds, and privilege immediately came into play. The media, along with other individuals who should know better, such as a large number of the Duke University faculty, jumped to broad-sweeping horrid conclusions before all the facts were known. Then there were extreme consequences.
After all the facts became clear, it became apparent that no crime had been committed except for extreme stupidity on the part of a whole host of bad actors.
As for the recent incident in Cambridge, Massachusetts; in days gone by, in an era long before the cable news and blogosphere-overloaded information – or disinformation – dissemination architecture, the story may have been lived and died in one or two news cycles.
However, the story quickly grew legs when cable news seized it as yet another example of law and order lunacy, not unlike last summer’s nightmare of police officers breaking into the home of a popular small town Maryland mayor and shooting his two dogs. Oops.
It is the latest saga of bad public relations for law enforcement in our country. Nevermind the detail that the facts do not support the hype in the case of the Cambridge incident.
Whether the example is speed cameras, red light cameras; or the recent incident where members of one law enforcement agency performed an undercover drug operation in Statesboro, NC, in which they arrested a member of another agency’s undercover operation; members of the public are continuing to be pre-disposed to believe that law enforcement in our country is becoming a bad Saturday Nigh Live skit.
Everyone immediately analyzed the recent Cambridge incident through the prism of his or her own experiences. Even those of us who grew up in small town America, where the local police officer was your friend, and helped you put your chain back on your bicycle; began to recall bad memories of our own war stories of dealing with overly officious adrenaline-driven police officers with the common sense of a goldfish.
The police report was scoured with a fine toothcomb looking for clues as to what really happened. The report may be found here (http://i.cdn.turner.com/cnn/2009/images/07/23/0498.001.pdf.)
In the final analysis, President Barack Obama lost his script as the great uniter and weighed in badly as the great divider at a news conference last week, and further disseminated bad information by saying the Cambridge police department acted stupidly.
Never one to miss an opportunity to use race to promote himself, the Rev. Al Sharpton also weighed-in.
In the final stage, most all the finger-pointers have egg on their face and are walking back what they said in haste and spinning it for all its worth.
The news media was only too happy to help the president walk back his unfortunate hasty words, when it was revealed that Dr. Gates may have, in reality, precipitated and participated in his own victimization by his unprofessional and uncivil treatment of the police officer involved in the incident.
…
Here is what I wrote for The Tentacle last Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Black and blue and stupid, too
Kevin E. Dayhoff July 29, 2009
http://www.thetentacle.com/ShowArticle.cfm?mydocid=3287
On Thursday afternoon, July 16, the otherwise peaceful and stately Ware Street in Cambridge, MA, within shouting distance of Harvard University, became the latest ground zero for a debate over race relations in our country.
For everyone who wishes that the debate would just go away, the uneasy discussion over racial relations in America continues to take one step forward and two steps back.
This story gets tedious quickly. On July 20, The Associated Press reported: “Police responding to a call about ‘two black males’ breaking into a home near Harvard University ended up arresting the man who lives there – Henry Louis Gates Jr., the nation's pre-eminent black scholar.
“Gates had forced his way through the front door because it was jammed… Colleagues call the arrest last Thursday afternoon a clear case of racial profiling.”
The plot followed an all too familiar storyline. First there were the initial sensational reports in the media that a prominent African American scholar, at Harvard, no less, was arrested at his own home for breaking into his own house.
Unfortunately, for black males in our country, it is a story that is all-too familiar.
However, as more facts come to light, the incident began to remind many of the infamous Duke lacrosse players’ debacle some time ago in which an African American female claimed that she had been assaulted by the lacrosse team at a party.
After all the facts became clear, it was obvious that no crime had been committed – except for extreme stupidity on the part of a whole host of bad actors.
Read the entire column here: Latest column in http://www.thetentcle.com/ by Kevin Dayhoff Black and blue and stupid too http://tinyurl.com/nfuml6
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