Mr Gates, and the Smokescreen of Race

It bothers me that the incident with Dr Henry Louis Gates has been turned into a racial discrimination story. I think there is a deeper issue, one that has been overlooked in our indignation that there still exists racial prejudice in our institutions. It is important to note there was no racial component of the original 911 call.

I think Mr Gates would have been treated the same way if he were caucasian. It was not so much the color of his skin but his disrespectful address of the police that got him into trouble. America, in spite of our right to free speech is not a country where a man may, after legally identifying himself in his own home, express tumultuous displeasure at his situation without being taken to task by the police.

I think that Dr. Gates's exclamations of racial intolerance, with it's reported vehemence and abusive language, were not how one of his stature might be expected to act. It may have been emotionally driven, it may have had components of past injustice, or it may have just been a matter or Dr Gate's losing his cool. I will go so far as to say his reported comments and language were inappropriate, even vulgar. But vulgarity is speech, protected speech. And rudeness is not a crime, even in Cambridge Massachusetts.

Lets replace Dr. Gates, a Harvard professor in his own home in Cambridge, with "Mr Davis" a white man of identical age, a homeowner, in his own home in Boise Idaho. Police arriving in his home might have been faced with a similar dilemma, A man in his own home, properly identified, loses his temper and uses harsh language, perhaps "Communist, Jackbooted Thug!" He may have loudly proclaimed his rights as a man in his own home, legally, being abused by a "authoritarian federalist agenda." he may have even shouted to his neighbors as he was taken away that he was being detained by servants of the "Elitist Socialist leftist regime." He might have offered slanders against the officer's mother.
An ugly scene to be sure, but not one that should have resulted in his arrest. If socially important in his community, there may well have been a hue and cry by the local and state media against the abuses of power that many conservative Americans are currently concerned about.

What I am concerned about, is how a different kind of American, available in black, white and all the rest of our national palette might have fared. In this scenario, the neighborhood would have not been as nice as the one in Cambridge or the one in Boise I used as a basis for the aforementioned "Mr. Davis" incident. This neighborhood could be eastern Portland , in my own home town. where there are many persons living in a less affluent lifestyle. A lightly mixed neighborhood mostly white, though with some Asian , Hispanic and Black residents. The white guy in in this house would probably not be college educated, most likely an underemployed blue collar worker . His reaction to being hauled from his own house though properly identified, would not be very different from Dr. Gates or the semi-fictitious Mr Davis. He too would be angry, probably abusive, and indignant to consider his arrest while legally inside his own home. The same might be the case for a Black man from Oakland, or or any person of any color in any city.

Without the money for high power legal representation or some kind of social notoriety or political connections, such an individual would not have had his charges dismissed, and may have had to spend some time in the city lockup till the judiciary system got around to him. Lost time from work would have hurt his family and perhaps even have cost him his job.

My point is that we are losing the more egalitarian aspects of our political culture. All men are created equal but may not be treated the same way. The divide is not always based on traditional bigotry, non-whites have risen to power all over our nation, even to the highest office. I contend that anyone who is willing to play along, will get along. Playing along means not insisting on your rights. It means not making waves, it means not whistle blowing. In spite of our rights, I have counseled to many a young firebrand that they should never tell a police officer about rights, they already know about your rights and may even know more about them than you do. It is the act of resistance to authority, the uncooperative attitude, that can, has and will result in unpleasant encounters with law enforcement, with courts, even with the sourpuss at the Drivers License Bureau, who can make you spend your entire day in a line.

It does not matter why a person has been abused. As long as we focus on the why, we will be distracted from the issue of abuse of power. The fact that the Gates Incident is all about race now, completely hides the fact that you are not allowed to mouth off to the police, even when in your own home. It is a measure of liberty, these interactions between officials and citizens. It is the tenor of these interactions, informed by what Americans watch on tv and movies that has resulted in almost universal low grade distrust, even fear of law enforcement officers. Innocent persons, understanding that what they say and do in the presence of legal authority may result in arrest or injury, are less likely to be fully communicative.

Class discrimination is something of a non subject to most of us, we like to think of ourselves as equals, having left all that aristocratic nonsense back in Europe. But in our country the class distinctions are marked not by heritage, but by bank account. If two are at odds, and the courts become involved, it is not the validity of legal argument that solves the dispute, it is how much lawyer time the litigants can afford. It is common practice to make sure that courts decisions are delayed as long as possible in the hopes that the other side will no longer be able to afford an attorney and so the case is dismissed without any decision. The more affluent of the parties becoming the winner.

So the issue is buried. No one is asking about the potential abuse of authority, no one is interested in the fact that Mr Gates's social and political connections are what got his charges dropped. Now its the "Race Card" and a feel good skit about buddies having a sit down over beverages.

Too bad we are all looking the other way. What else might we be missing?