"Stupid" Racist Officers

The latest human interest story in the news is about Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and his run in with local law enforcement. The professor, a noted black scholar, was arrested for disorderly conduct following an officer arriving at his residence to investigate a reported break-in attempt. A woman had called police when she witnessed Gates and his driver wedging their shoulder into the door of Gates' home.

Upon arriving at the scene, the officer was immediately accused of racism by the professor for responding to the call. The professor, according to the full police report which can be found here , repeatedly yelled "THIS IS WHAT HAPPENS TO BLACK MEN IN AMERICA!" The professor initially refused to show identification and proceeded to yell at the officers to the point where many onlookers gathered outside his residence. The uber-cultured Gates even made a slur against the officer's "mama."

As if the story didn't already have legs for the mainstream media, Obama recently commented that the officer had acted "stupidly."

But let's look at the facts, after the officer arrested the professor for disorderly conduct the professor commented that he could not secure the door to his residence due to a recent break-in. If a recent break-in had occurred, shouldn't the professor have been grateful for the quick response? Shouldn't his ID card been all it took to clarify this situation? Break-ins do happen and apparently even to him personally so shouldn't he have been a bit more understanding in dealing with officers? After all, if they had caught a true burglar which they had reason to believe they were dealing with, shouldn't the professor have been appreciative that his property would be secure?

Police officers have a hard job and we all need to cut them a little slack for the kind of basic police work that keeps us and our property safe. The professor was returning from an overseas trip which might account for his bad mood upon having to deal with this but he obviously felt safe leaving his property for an extended period of time even though the door could not be secured. Who did he think would look after his home while he was away? The same officers that he has no problem roundly denouncing as racist when they ask for his ID after hearing about a questionable situation on his porch, no doubt.

I do not believe that we can call the arresting officer racist due to this one incident. But certainly there are racist police officers just like there are racist teachers, racist chemists, racist psychologists, racist butchers, etc. The real question here is why does the professor believe all officers are racist? The idea of institutional racism is alive in this country even if the facts don't back it up. Institutional racism, like that which was present under Jim Crow, has been abolished. Affirmative action, diversity courses, and sensitivity courses are all mandatory for many professions. We create quota systems in colleges so as to even avoid the appearance of racism. Incidents of true racism are to be condemned but for basic police work to be demagogued is ridiculous.

Unfortunately for people like the professor, we will always be a racist nation in their minds. The professor would find good company with Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and Rev. Jeremiah Wright.

More people seem to reject this worldview than not, as recently Obama retracted his comment of the officer acting "stupidly." As additonal facts roll out: the caller never identified Gates' race, a second black officer who witnessed the arrest supports it 100%, and the head officer and union stand four-square behind the arrest; there seems to be a retreat even in the media. But even the media can't resist saying just because it might not have been racism today doesn't mean there won't be racism tomorrow.

Even though this looks like a win for the people who reject the politics of victimization and stereotypes, it is just one stop for race hustlers. The Duke lacrosse rape case, the Gena 6, Tawana Brawley, etc. all were debunked and repudiated but the race hustlers just move on to the next big story. We celebrate today because a good cop came out on top and a race-obsessed professor looked foolish but the game goes on.