In which racism is not actually dead (thank you, Boston Globe commenters)

[rymenhild]

Via catamorphism: Henry Louis Gates Jr., Alphonse Fletcher University Professor at Harvard University and one of the world's most distinguished scholars of African-American literature, was arrested last week in front of his own house. Apparently, having some difficulty with his front door lock, Professor Gates attempted to break the lock open... and some passerby or neighbor called 911 to report that a black man was breaking into a house in Cambridge. When a police officer arrived and asked Professor Gates to step out of the house and provide his information, the professor said, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" and refused to leave his house or identify himself.

They arrested Professor Gates for disorderly conduct. He was released on the same day, and a Harvard Law professor is taking his case.

Take a look at the police incident report (PDF). Then read the comments at the Boston Globe article, including this gem of utter logic failure:

Enough of throwing down the race card ... we have a Black President now, so that tired old ship has sailed. The guy got indignant like any self-important Harvard professor does, pulled the old "Do you know who I am?" routine, and got arrested as a result.

That's not what happened. Professor Gates came to the attention of the police because, as he said, he is a black man in America. Because he's an eminent and spectacularly well-connected black man in America, he's unlikely to get into any lasting trouble because of this arrest... but hundreds and thousands of other black men in America don't have the professor's advantages.

Edit: I am freezing this post. This is not aimed at any specific commenter. Because I'm crossing the country tomorrow, I won't have time to monitor the discussion, and I'd rather close the post before anything more incendiary is said in my journal.

Also, you might all be interested to know that the charge against Professor Gates has been dropped. I think we can all agree that that's good news.

Comments

(frozen)

[rymenhild.livejournal.com]

Gah. Yes. I'm more infuriated about the bit that goes "A black man is president of the United States and therefore this incident cannot possibly be linked to racism," but yes.

Besides which, the do-you-know-who-I-am defense is perfectly logical when a person, accused of breaking into a house, can prove that it's actually his house and he actually lives there.

(frozen)

[snowspinner.livejournal.com]

Didn't you read? After Obama was elected the magical racial harmony fairies flew across the land and there are now no more racist cops anywhere.