His characterization of his state of mind/being in the interviews since the arrest are telling…”I can’t believe”, “I’m astonished”, “I never thought”, “I didn’t realize”, “I felt violated”

Blacks been screamin this
I said screamin but like Michal said “They don’t care about us.”

Maybe now ppl will open their eyes.

Before i read this column I thought the same thing. This dude doesnt know the rule that can get any dude arrested with no cause. THATS TALKIN ISH TO THE POLICE. THATS BLACK MAN 101. Somehow he thought his titles and what he does would save him from having to respect the police. Race or not hes dumb for thinking hes gonna win a confrontation of any kind with the po po. Dudes go to jail for that everyday and it doesnt make the news.

Gates suffers from “I am more important than the average black man syndrome” , he thought he couldnt get it. The avergae black man who fusses wit the police goes to jail even if he didnt do nothin. He thinks he should be the exception to the rule. Oh no nigga u can get it to! Message for the uppity negroes, u can get it to.

It never ceases to astound me how those who think they have surmounted the racial gap because of their degrees, accolades, shedding of their “Blackness” (at a cost) and acceptance (as illusionary though it might be) by white amerikka, always holler racial profiling (and come back home to the community at large) etc once they get a taste of how the everyday Black man/woman is treated in amerikka.

As always in one form or another a “warrant,” is issued stating —-you are just another n**ger, and gets served to those who have turned their backs on the Black community, who consider themselves the “elite” of our race/culture——the so called leaders, thinker’s, saviors and reformers—-all the while pointing the finger of blame at themselves while looking in the mirror. As Michael Jackson sang: “I’m looking at the man in the mirror….” Uuummm, takes on a different connotation here, does it not?

All the while, they point their black skinned fingers at the rest of us and blame us for having a bad case of “excuse-ittis”, for blaming whites and the system at large for our impasse/catch-22/dilemma/predicment. (Yep, Blame the victim for the crime committed against them). It certainly does hurt them in that they are reminded, they are nothing more than another n**er on the plantation called amerikka.

I do not feel sorry for Gates for had he been a “GOOD N**ER”, (I am being facetious here when I call him that) he would never had suffered this offence, this ignominy/ odious attack against his person: but it appears that he did not know his place and was most certainly reminded of how he was allowed to assimilate into a white world, however illusionary and fleeting it was…

[...] most interracial relationships have root in the mentality demonstrated so well here (borrowing from Will Griffin), we’d be lying if we didn’t admit that at least some of them do, wouldn’t we? [...]

I agree with the commments and the article. It is not wise to shout at police officer irregardless of your skin color.A Harvard professor should know better.

Gates has achieved something. He is respected in the whole world – no professor whether white or black should be treated the way Gates was treated by the police at his OWN house.

It’s good that this old man stood up for his cause instead of yessuh’ing these bozos. This article is just another case where one black man tries to pull another black man down! All the haters better try to achieve something similar instead of whining how this black ‘elitist’ turned his back on the community…

I think that the person that lived across from Gate is a troublemaker, cause if you live across from someone you know and see sometimes, why in the world would you call the police on them unless you wanted them locked up for some stupid ass reason. “GATES YOUR NEIGHBORS ARE RACIST TROUBLE MAKER”.

I think the policy of freedom of speech needs to be re-written. It is legal for KKK and other hate/ murder groups do do their protests and marches but yet and still a guy that says your momma and a couple words not threatening an officer gets locked up ? I think these two subjects go hand in hand because KKK’s protests are called freedom of speech… but where is gate’s freedom of speech? I dont recall him threatening an officer. If gates was arrested mainly because of his mouth then they should look into making the hate groups especially the KKK’s prostests illegal.

[...] Professor Gates case gets more fascinating by the second. Please see my post from yesterday on what I believed actually happened on the night of the arrest. According to the Boston Herald, [...]

@Amber but it doesnt validate an arrest.

We as citizens (any color) can either accept when a cop does what they arent supposed too, and then expect it to continue to happen. Or we can call it out, expose and address when cops violate our rights.

Gates may have over reacted and started some s**t. No matter how you look at it though, there was no reason or validation for an arrest. It was simply a cop that took Gates and his words personally then used his power to prove that he could…and that is NOT what the police are supposed to do. If you can’t be level headed and unemotional while under pressure/stress, then you shouldn’t be a cop. Cops are supposed to arrest criminals and difuse excited situations. Not arrest folks for talkin bout their “momma.” Words are not illegal, they are our rights.

Funny how cops will protect klan marchers when they utilize their right to free speech yet when gates talks about the cops mom, he gets arrested…

Irregardless of how badly he “talked down” to the police, Gates broke no law. The police did. Once probable cause had been established as false, they had legal obligation to leave his property. With no legal right to be there, they had no more standing than private citizens’ trespassing. He had the right to say whatever he wished to whomever he wished; it was his property. Was it smart? No. Is gates an unmitigated ass? By most accounts, yes. Yet, it is high time that the police of all states and municipalities be beholden to the laws that make them protectors of the law, not dictators of it. They have an impossibly tough job and deserve every benefit of the doubt, but that doesn’t mean a blind eye to breaking the very laws they are sworn to protect, or abuse of authority. Maybe Skip Gates will learn to keep his big trap shut, but he isn’t really the issue. That’s MY perspective

Will Griffin: LETS BE REAL!! First off-Once it was established by Identification that Gates was in his home. That should’ve been the end of it period. The police needed to exit or they are technically trespassing.
The police were dispatched to investigate whether there was a break in.
If Gates was talking to the officer, whether Gates was loud or whatever he was within his legal right to do so. Questioning a police officer is not against the law. 2). Look at the arrest report Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct in public. Gates was in his home a private domain not public. People of color ( and I am speaking with first hand experience) are unfairly and unwarrantedly arrested by racist cops. People especially persons of volor need to stop treating the police like they are always right and just. Police can be the biggest a*****es. They must not use there badge to immediately make persons of color subservient to them. Seargeant Crowley needs to be fired. You cannot arrest someone because you dont like what they say. These unwarranted arrests are a waste of the taxpayers money. These arrests typically have keywords to let you know they are bogus arrests,”resisting arrest”, willful obstruction of a peace officer, disorderly conduct, uncooperative -these are some of the key words that translate to mean “you did not act or do as whitey told you to do”
This is a time for Al Sharpton and others to examine RACE and police treatment of persons of color. OBAMA lets have a town hall meeting about RACE. Our President needs to get a back-bone and stopping tripping. It is time for change. REAL CHANGE not bulls**t.