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Frankly no I don't. Not in front of your own house. A ticket, maybe. But they had determined that he was not breaking and entering, that should have been the end of it.You really don't get why shouting at an officer, accusing him of being a racist, and insulting his mother might get you arrested for disorderly conduct?
Maybe she didn't see his face
How old is she? My parents wouldn't have a clue about who is famous on the internet.
And regarding the interview with Gates...did the neighbor see him all that much...or see a guy go around to the back of the house...while the other guy admittedly hit the door with his shoulder.
Oh, well let me help you -> if you shout, insult, accuse an officer of being a racist, and talk about his mother, there's a pretty solid chance he will arrest you for disorderly conduct because you're an #######. This applies to Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and all types of #######s.Also, there is no magical anti-law bubble over your front lawn that makes you invulnerable to arrest. HTH.Frankly no I don't. Not in front of your own house.
I live in Chicago and I've never seen my next door neighbor's face. No clue if she's famous or not.Why is this even an issue?
Racist.
It may have been funny in the movie but purported eyewitnesses are discredited like this all the time.
He's not famous on the internet. He's famous, period. Not Britney Spears famous, but famous enough that its it's flat-out weird to be neighbors with someone like that and not know who they are. I live in a large building in a city, where most of us don't know our neighbors, and if Henry Louis Gates lived anywhere in my building, I promise you we'd all know it.
Look, I admit that earlier I believed there was around a 90% liklihood that racism was involved here. I admit that my personal experiences and political views play a part in that supposition. Now I'm not so sure. I still think it's at least 50-50 that racism was involved on the part of the police. But I'm willing to admit that it might not be so.However, from the beginning you have been willing to take the police's word at face value. You have gone into this with a predetermined opinion, and I doubt you would let facts change your opinion.Oh, well let me help you -> if you shout, insult, accuse an officer of being a racist, and talk about his mother, there's a pretty solid chance he will arrest you for disorderly conduct because you're an #######. This applies to Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and all types of #######s.Also, there is no magical anti-law bubble over your front lawn that makes you invulnerable to arrest. HTH.Frankly no I don't. Not in front of your own house.You really don't get why shouting at an officer, accusing him of being a racist, and insulting his mother might get you arrested for disorderly conduct?
So how do you know that someone of comparable fame isn't one of your neighbors right now?
Had it been just him, sure, maybe she'd have recognized him.But he had another large man with him that was attempting to shoulder the door down. Please tell me you aren't suggesting that neighbors should be giving situations like this the benefit of the doubt and not call the cops?I mean, I don't even understand why the fact the police were called is being discussed at all, it seems pretty obvious that they were there for a justifiable cause. And I also love how the media is specifically reporting that the caller was white, is that not racism? Where's the outrage for that? Oh, that's right, white people have no racial rights whatsoever. Fantastic.
Really? I had to break into my own house once and I swear to god the first thought I had was I wonder if the cops are going to show up?
I'm not so sure about that. My parents are very well-educated, intelligent people and I highly doubt they've ever heard of Henry Louis Gates. I've heard of him, but if I were walking down the street and he were going the other way, I'd have no clue who he was.I've lived two houses down (residential neighborhood, we know most of our neighbors) from a locally famous guy since 1990, and I didn't know he lived there until last summer. He's not HLG famous by any means, but the guy's lived there with his wife for 18 years and I had no idea.
So it's okay to profile?
So which is it? Was he incapable of yelling or not?Thanks for being patronizing, but I don't make my opinions based on empathy with the Black community. Either someting is right or it is wrong, period. As for the eyewitness, here is what I read:Meanwhile, in online interviews, Gates said that claims that he was publicly yelling at Sgt. Crowley are false, and that with a bronchial infection, he was not capable of shouting, a claim repeated to the Herald by Ogletree. Crowley’s report said Gates had refused to show his ID, which Gates also has denied.Tim,
I can assure you the black community doesn't need or want your empathy or help defending our rights in this situation. Please just stop. I know you are extremely outraged but you are out of your league here.
Why do you ignore the eye witnesses who say the professor was making a scene from beginning to end? So we have 2 different versions, and 3rd party impartial witnesses that back up the police officers POV. Not good enough for you?
A 55-year-old neighbor who said he witnessed the incident but declined to give his name, however, said that Gates was in fact yelling loudly, as indicated by a photo taken by another neighbor.
“When police asked him for ID, Gates started yelling, ‘I’m a Harvard professor . . . You believe white women over black men. This is racial profiling.’ ”
“The police did their job,” said the neighbor. “He should be thanking them. But they shouldn’t have arrested him. He had just gotten off a 20-hour flight. He couldn’t get his door open. He got frustrated . . . They should have just said forget it.”
The photo shows Gates "yelling loudly" after he was put in handcuffs. But in any case, I suspect Gates was angry, maybe even yelling, though he doesn't remember doing so. I would have done the same if I had been him. He is an elderly Black man, a Harvard professor, and the only reason he is being harrassed IMO is because of his skin color. There is NO possible way he was a threat to the police or to anyone else. To handcuff this guy and drag him away, and you guys don't believe race was an issue here? Come on.
The neighbor's statements are contradictory. How can the police be "doing their job" if they arrested a guy when "they shouldn't have arrested him"? It sounds to me like the neighbor knew that Gates being arrested was BS, but didn't want to attack the police too strongly, because he, like so many of you, have been trained since childhood to trust the police in these situations.
I had the cops called on me for snooping around my own house with a flashlight late at night.Did the neighbors know that someone fitting my profile lived in the house? Yeah sure. Should that have stopped them from calling the cops? No way.Cops came and questioned me. Instead of arguing with them, I went and produced my ID. I apologized for wasting their time and they were on their way. If you're not being a ####, stuff like this doesn't happen too often. Now I don't know exactly what happened in this guy's case, but I tend to think he brought this on himself with his own actions, not some cop with a racist agenda. We'll probably never know.You make a good point.I suppose I just assume that would know. Either I'd notice the name on a mailbox or a stray piece of mail or shipping form, or one of the few neighbors that I do know would have mentioned it at some point.
The bolded...plus these gems...
and nobody has a clue what you are trying to say.You go from it was 90% to probably not racism, to if Gates's story is true its blatant racism to its 50/50 that its racism.
This is becoming a familiar refrain with you.
And his immediate thought was that he was in danger.Over and over it appears the only person with any preconceived notions of race or trouble was Gates.
On board here.
With the mountains of evidence supporting the officer's version of events the BEST you'll give is 50-50?
It's this type of attitude, along with that and the actions of the AA community as exemplified by this professor, that continue to hurt race relations in this country. Oh, and for the record I don't really like cops but until there's evidence to the contrary I'll take their version of events over a suspect in a crime every time. And Timmy, I've been harassed and arrested wrongly on numerous occasions. AA's don't have the monopoly on that. And I STILL give cops the benefit of the doubt. You should try walking a mile in their shoes before becoming so pompous and arrogant.
Along with the post script 'well at least I am willing to change my mind in light of new facts, whereas YOU aren't. 
Another one.
WTF do the alcoholics have to do with any of this?
bump
Link?The "beginning" of this for me was days ago. This has been talked to death around here. Just because you started thinking about this yesterday or today doesn't mean I have too.Look, I admit that earlier I believed there was around a 90% liklihood that racism was involved here. I admit that my personal experiences and political views play a part in that supposition. Now I'm not so sure. I still think it's at least 50-50 that racism was involved on the part of the police. But I'm willing to admit that it might not be so.However, from the beginning you have been willing to take the police's word at face value. You have gone into this with a predetermined opinion, and I doubt you would let facts change your opinion.Oh, well let me help you -> if you shout, insult, accuse an officer of being a racist, and talk about his mother, there's a pretty solid chance he will arrest you for disorderly conduct because you're an #######. This applies to Caucasian, Hispanic, Asian, and all types of #######s.Also, there is no magical anti-law bubble over your front lawn that makes you invulnerable to arrest.Frankly no I don't. Not in front of your own house.
HTH.
how can a photo show whether a person is yelling loudly or not?here it is:
If I go with you and say Gates was overreacting, are you saying racism is justified because some black people feel incorrectly they are victims of racism?
If you ever wonder why people single you out for abuse, its because you post stuff like this with a straight face, completely oblivious to the hypocrisy of doing so.
When I lived in Detroit cars were getting broken into on our street..I was in my garage at midnight when two Detroit cops walked up my driveway...all they said to me was "Put you hands in the air and walk out of the garage slowly..I complied..then they put me against the car in my driveway and asked what I was doing in the garage at midnight. I said I live here. They then made me pull out my wallet and show ID...I complied again. They then sorry "Sorry for the trouble sir..but we had a string of break-ins tonight on your street and were not sure if you were attempting another......have a good night. Both cops were black. Did I think they were racist?? No..I thought they were doing their job. Growing up in Detroit I learned fast that if you follow the cops instructions things go much smoother.
He "famous," not famous. The fact that people who are familiar with academia or black causes would see him as "famous" doesn't make it so for everyone.BTW, my Dad couldn't pick Britney Spears out of a police line-up.
Just curious, what if the exact experience happened to your kids, how would you feel? What if it happened to your kids multiple times in a year? What if it happened to a sizable percentage of your childrens friends as well?
my post wasn't directed at you. just adding to the discussion.
What do you think you have happened to me if they said "Show your hands and walk out of the garage and I said FU" One thing I am sure of is that I would have been extracted from the garage and most likely would have received a pretty good ### whipping.The cop that arrived in the Harvard case was called by someone reporting a BE...he did not just drive by and see a black guy in a home....and he was responding as if he was confronting a criminal in a home invasion. If the guy just complied it would have been over right away.
I am not defending Gates' role in this. Sounds like he did a lot of things wrong. If you said FU to the cops, I would hope you wouldn’t get an ### beating and if you did I would hope the cops would be properly punished.
