For Obama and Gates, identification just isn’t enough
By now we’re all familiar with Gatesgate: the arrest of Dr. Henry Louis Gates, Jr., a prominent professor of African-American Studies at Harvard, in his own home by Sergeant James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department, who is white. Sgt. Crowley mistook Dr. Gates for a burglar after receiving a 911 call concerning a possible break-in, but Dr. Gates showed his identification proving that the home was his residence. While the surrounding facts of the situation are hotly disputed, Sgt. Crowley arrested Dr. Gates on a disorderly conduct charge. The charge was subsequently dropped.
There’s one thing about this whole Gatesgate situation that has been really bothering me: why didn’t the situation end after Dr. Gates identified himself? In his own police report, Sgt. Crowley states:
Upon learning that Gates was affiliated with Harvard, I radioed and requested the presence of the Harvard University Police.
Why?
If Dr. Gates had established himself as the resident of the home and as a professor at Harvard, why did Sgt. Crowley feel the need to call more police officers? My guess: because Sgt. Crowley still wasn’t entirely sure or comfortable that Dr. Gates lived in that house—even though his Massachusetts driver’s license specifies that very address. So he called the Harvard police to come and confirm everything.
One of the realities that African-Americans face in this country is that we are often confronted by people (from a variety of backgrounds) who simply cannot comprehend (or accept) that African-Americans can reach a certain level of education, affluence, or power. Especially people who have little or no contact with Blacks of elevated socio-economic strata.
Other Americans are having precisely this difficulty with President Barack Obama’s identity as an American citizen, even though he has released his Certification of Live Birth from the State of Hawaii. Despite providing this identification, this proof of his citizenship, the so-called “birther” groups will not accept it. A recent example of this occurred at a townhall meeting in Delaware, where a woman raged against the President, saying that he was a citizen of Kenya and finally shrieking in a trembling voice, “I want my country back!” Back from whom? Oh, I get it. From us, the “others.”
The media is highlighting these “birthers” because they willfully refuse to accept that President Obama is a United States citizen, even in the face of incontrovertible evidence (his birth certificate), but few have noted that Sgt. Crowley demonstrated similar behavior when he called the Harvard police after seeing proof that Dr. Gates lived in his own home.
I’m not alone in seeing a parallel between the treatment of Dr. Gates and President Obama. Dr. Stanley Fish over at the New York Times has drawn a different parallel—between the treatment of Dr. Gates at Duke University and President Obama in the White House—and has come to a similar conclusion:
The problem is again the legitimacy of a black man living in a big house, especially when it’s the White House. Just as some in Durham and Cambridge couldn’t believe that Gates belonged in the neighborhood, so does a vocal minority find it hard to believe that an African-American could possibly be the real president of the United States.
via Henry Louis Gates: Déjà Vu All Over Again – Stanley Fish Blog – NYTimes.com.
No wonder Dr. Gates was angry.
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Ms.Carter,
I think you (and Mr. Fish) are quite correct that there is sizable population of people who cannot believe that Black people can achieve financial or social or political success. They want to see the proof that they know does not exist. Dr. Gates “proof” must be fraudulent so the officer had to call the Harvard Police to prove this fraud.
However, I think that this is merely the most visible aspect of the broader concept that anything that any Black person has, has probably been obtained inappropriately, if not actually illegally. The Black driver of that car may have stolen it but if he does own it, he bought with ill gotten money. He may not have broken any traffic law but was probably on his way to break the law, if not coming back from having done so.
Whether a Black person is “successful” is really not the point. All black people are assumed to be have criminal intent, if not criminal success. It is the experience of successful Black people of being treated like criminals that throws a spotlight on this issue but it is not the issue itself.
davidlosangeles,
Thanks for your comments; you have raised very interesting points. I do think there is an underlying mistrust of Blacks that sometimes translates into a perception of “ill-gotten gains,” though I don’t always think this is the case. You could be right that Sgt. Crowley called the Harvard police to expose the fraud. That didn’t occur to me.
I do, however, maintain that success/power is a key issue is Gatesgate, not just as a symptom of broader mistrust of Blacks (which it is to some extent), but as a deep-seated problem in its own right. Many Americans have a certain comfort level with Blacks who have societal roles viewed as “suitable” for them (e.g., secretaries, domestic roles, entertainers), but become extremely uncomfortable with Blacks in any authoritative role.
In response to another comment. See in context »The same thing happened to me once. I was stopped while driving in a neighborhood I did not seem to belong in, which was technically correct since I lived in a different municipality about 1 mile away. The officer checked my drivers license and handed it back (I did not get a ticket) but after I had put the license back in my wallet he asked as casually as could “Oh, what city did you say you lived in?”. He wanted to see if I would remember the name of the city that was shown on my possibly fake drivers license. I could imagine that the officer in this case was sure that Dr. Gates’ ID was fake and that the officer from Harvard University could verify this.
In response to another comment. See in context »Really like how you connected things. Well done. Thank you.
Thanks, David. I appreciate that.
In response to another comment. See in context »I think that more than “fear of black people”, there is a power trip going on here. This officer’s ego definitely comes into play here. I agree that as soon as Dr. Gates showed identification, Officer Crowley should have apologized and moved on. However, his ego got in the way and he could not admit that he was wrong. That is probably why he called in the Harvard police, so that he didn’t have to admit that he was wrong. Not saying that none of this had to do with the fact that the professor was black, but I’m saying that I think there is more than racism at work here. Is it possible that Dr. Gates automatically jumped to the conclusion that he was only approached by the police in the first place because he is black? Sounds like it could possible be a tale of two egos here.
briano,
I almost wrote a column with that title: “A Tale of Two Egos” but then tabled it for another piece. I firmly believe that testosterone was a contributing factor in this incident. Even after the incident, in another sign of ego, neither man would admit to crossing a line.
Good point and thanks for your comment.
In response to another comment. See in context »I think Americans are more racist at the “fact” that Obama is a Muslim. I think that adds fuel to the fire.
Of course he’s not a Muslim and it would be great if religion wasn’t part of politics, of which both McCain and Obama were at fault for levering their religion to gain votes.
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