free at last

[drewkitty]

If I had time, this space would contain a rant about Professor Gates and his encounter with Sergeant James Crowley of Cambridge PD, who arrested Professor Gates for disorderly conduct on the front porch of the professor's own home.

I don't have the time.

http://features.csmonitor.com/politics/2009/07/23/police-sergeant-stands-up-to-both-obama-and-gates/

Hopefully this incident, combined with President Obama's comments, has started a badly needed nationwide conversation on racial discrimination in policing.

I don't promise a good light-to-heat ratio, however, based on the wide gap between what actually happened and the stories that are being told about it.

It is easy to Google up the police report and Professor Gates' public remarks on the incident.

These are both good men who have contributed enormously to their community. I believe that the good Sergeant was having a bad day and made a serious mistake, but that's just my arrogant opinion.

Be well, folks.

Comments

[drewkitty.livejournal.com]

Brad, I am sad that you would think such a thing of me. See here (http://wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com/501535.html) and especially here (http://wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com/501535.html?thread=5053983#t5053983) for a preview.

In specific, see this (http://wordweaverlynn.livejournal.com/501535.html?thread=5072159), in argument on that post:

1) A police report is NOT a fact. It is a point of view, as is my analysis and your comments. As someone who reads and writes a lot of incident reports, I felt that my viewpoint had some value for people who don't have that life experience.

I have yet to read -- or for that matter, write -- a report that completely matches in every detail the facts on the ground. I do my human best, and so do many others, but report writing is a skill that calls for objectivity in a universe where objectivity is a line on the horizon.

2) I hold a serving peace officer to a higher standard than an elderly scholar. I do not feel that Professor Gates has any 'blame' in this situation at all. I feel that his actions were completely lawful and well within his rights as a citizen and a human being. As both the city and the DA's office appear to agree, I think I'll go with that.

3) Professor Gates alleges that the police report is a complete fabrication. He knows better than you or I do . . . he was there.

http://www.thedailybeast.com/blogs-and-stories/2009-07-22/my-daddy-the-jailbird/full/

"Daddy, how did it feel to read in the police report that although you had been cooperative with Sgt. Crowley, while he was standing uninvited in your home, your behavior had been reduced to “loud and tumultuous” after asking to see to his badge? Were you surprised at the inaccuracy of the police report?

"Well, the police report was an act of pure fiction. One designed to protect him, Sgt. Crowley, from unethical behavior. I was astonished at the audacity of the lies in the police report, and almost the whole thing from start to finish was just pure fabrication. So yes, I felt violated all over again."