Yes, racism still exists in America. It always will. As long as people prejudge based on differences, racism of all stripes will exist. The question is whether or not racism was a part of this occasion, the arrest of a black Harvard professor by a white Cambridge cop. I'd say the evidence suggests that racism has definitely reared its ugly head in this case.
Gates, a tenured professor at a prestigious American university, was attempting to "jimmy" the door to his own home, along with his driver. Apparently, he had forgotten his keys. The police were summoned and Sgt. James Crowley, a white Cambridge police officer answered the call.
Crowley, noticing the "suspects" were already in the home, asked them to exit the house and identify themselves. Gates, according to reports, became irate, feeling that he was being "profiled" and beligerently refused. He was at this point arrested.
Now, let's examine where the racism is present. For the sake of argument, let's work with the long-standing liberal definition of racism, that it constitutes prejudicial treatment or oppression by a majority in power toward a minority.
Gates and Obama apparently want us to hop in the "way-back machine" and pretend Cambridge is stuck in 1964. But that's not the case here. Crowley responded to the scene alone and handled the situation by the book. He was presented with a possible home burglary and asked the suspects to come outside to identify themselves. What else was he supposed to do? Take Gates word that he was the homeowner? Go inside by himself to investigate? No in both cases.
Instead of being grateful that someone in his neighborhood noticed his house being disturbed and that the police responded so quickly, Gates immediately and and beligerently assumed a racist motive. That's what precipitated his arrest. And before we start down the sympathetic "plight of the black man fighting for respect in America" road, let's look at who Gates is:
He's a tenured professor at arguably the most prestigious university in the country. He and his DRIVER were trying to gain entrance into his upscale home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Recounting his hearing of Obama's comments, Gates had this to say:
"I was having dinner with a friend on the upper East Side in a little private Italian restaurant, and all of a sudden I thought my BlackBerry was going to explode,'' Gates said. A friend called saying "Barack Obama just mentioned you in his news conference.''
"I said, 'Oh my goodness, what did he say?'... 'He said the Cambridge police were stupid and that you were friends'...'I went, My God.' And then the emails...it was like a slot machine. I got 500 emails last night. ''
Not exactly Medgar Evers now is it? And it gets better. Apparently Sgt. Crowley is no ordinary Cambridge cop. He teaches a class, with a black officer, on racial profiling for the Lowell Police Department.
“He’s a very professional police officer and he’s a good role model,” Fleming (Lowell PA director) said. “Former police commissioner Ronny Watson, who is a person of color, hand-picked Sgt. Crowley. ... I presume because he would be the most qualified and most professional. He’s a very good instructor. He gets very high reviews by the students.”
So let's review. An African-American professor accuses a white beat cop of racism. Our African-American president, admitting he did not know all the facts, claimed that the police acted "stupidly" in the situation. There is no doubt in my mind that racism has played a major role in this situation. Both Gates and Obama clearly have used their status and positions of power to unnecessarily scapegoat and criticize a beat cop from a different racial background. Both men prejudged Sgt. Crowley's actions based on the color of his skin.
Yes, racism is still alive and well in America.
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