Comments on: What do you call a Black Man with a PhD? pt. 2

By: Michael David Cobb Bowen

Michael David Cobb Bowen — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 17:30:22 +0000

I remember Grand Canyon being an absolutely horrid movie about race that I placed among the ranks of Bulworth and that horrible movie made in the 90s where black people were in power and all wore kente.

Gates is not apolitical. I think he was reaching for his Mumia moment, and I think he's having to deal with the real fact of his ascent in society. That when he introduces himself as a distinguished tenured ivy league professor and the social currency that goes along with that, he gives up the right to be a stand-in for Pookie. Race simply isn't that flexible in today's society whether or not it is in Gates' head.

Today I discovered that the arresting officer, appropos your own personal story, is FACULTY and teaches the anti-racial profiling class to police. Has done so for five years. But very much like your story, once fear pulls the trigger, people feel entitled to take it to the ends of their immediate bias. Gates *felt threatened*.

There's all kinds of ways to spin this - that it obscures a bigger picture, that it represents a bigger picture. I see it two ways.

#1. Gates is no hero, and the system provided him no platform to speak as a victim of injustice. There is no injustice here.

#2. The court of public opinion is highly manipulated, and easily spins against justice.

It seems to me that the more people try to make of this, the less justice is possible.

By: blacksmythe

blacksmythe — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:10:06 +0000

Thanks for responding. When I wrote about racial profiling above I writing about it from the standpoint of the black actor/activist. From the person who'd say "What? Like I couldn't possibly live in this neighborhood because I'm black?" Or "Why are you stopping me? Don't you believe a black man could drive a Benz?"

These are both class-inflected. And infected, I'd add.

From the standpoint of the police profiling is a different thing. After 9/11 it likely becomes much more complicated.

By: blacksmythe

blacksmythe — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 11:06:44 +0000

He created two documentaries before the Lives work that are worth examining. And I'm not suggesting that he make racial profiling his thing, or that in the past he should've studied the phenomenon more. Again, he's actually a professor of Literature. I'm suggesting something different…that to the degree he stepped out of his expertise to deal with these types of issues he was consistently on the wrong side politically. Which makes me really really reluctant to use him as any type of organizing case.

By: Malik

Malik — Fri, 24 Jul 2009 05:19:49 +0000

Damn doctor. That was the best analysis of this incident that I've seen anywhere.

By: anna82

anna82 — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:35:55 +0000

I have to say that my first reaction to Skip's plight was -- I bet he didn't even know he was a black man! And my second was, maybe he should have gotten to know his neighbors better.

But, I am still not ok with this kind of treatment of anyone.

I have had one too many arguments with well meaning friends in the past seven or so months since a young man was shot in the back in Oakland because he mouthed off to a BART cop (read, not even a real police officer). I don't know that young man, but I don't need to know him personally to know that it is not ok to shoot a man in the back who you already have on the ground with his arms behind his back. Despite this, there are too many who would argue that he was "threatening." As though being black and young and a man is inherently threatening.

So, I think you are 100% right on. I am hoping that we have a better answer for the question posed as the title of this piece. I am hopeful and open every day.

By: Miriam Harris

Miriam Harris — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 22:10:57 +0000

Brilliant.

By: bygbaby

bygbaby — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:32:48 +0000

Trust that I wont be going back. In fact I went around the corner to Bloomingdale's & got great service & walked out with what I wanted.

By: PTCruiser

PTCruiser — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:13:25 +0000

As the shirts came, she said in an almost whispered voice, these are not on sale.

That's why I only buy my clothes at Nordstrom's. The folks who work there would never say anything like that to a customer.

By: PTCruiser

PTCruiser — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 21:09:00 +0000

Excellent piece, Les. Excellent.

By: theonesilverwolf

theonesilverwolf — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 20:11:53 +0000

Dr. Spence,
With all due respect, I have to disagree with you on one point. “Because the entire concept of racial profiling is based on class–on the idea that black middle and upper class men are treated as if they are POOR and black.” This point that you are making here (in my opinion) is not one hundred percent correct. In my experience, “racial profiling” has evolved with time. I believe it is now more correct to call it simply, “profiling”. The reason for this shift is actually because of the social “class” that you refer to in your statement. In todays society, and all the varied dynamics there in, race has gradually become less of an indicator, and thus less important. As a retired police officer it was my personal observation (in the location of my job) that the areas in which crimes were most likely to occur, was of course in the more depressed areas of town. With that said, I believe that you can agree that economic depression knows no race and therefore is not biased nor racist. Anyway, in these areas you will find all races of people just as you will all across the land. I can of course only speak to the area in which I live and worked, but race was simply not a factor in determining who was suspect in any given crime. I suppose the point I am trying to get to is that a persons race is becoming less a factor in these matters. There will always be those instances where a particular officer will be the exception, but it is quickly becoming, not the rule. In todays lawsuit happy society police officers have to be very careful in all that they do, because generally speaking they are usually guilty until proven innocent, and it is a well know fact that even the appearance of a racially motivated action can be a career ender.

One last point. I only worked for two different departments during my career, but in both of those departments it was against department policy to handcuff a suspects hands in front of their body for officer safety reasons. To violate this policy could and usually would result in time off without pay, regardless of the suspect. It is very easy to sit in judgement of police officers. The public in general wants to hold them to an all but impossible standard, always wanting to overlook the fact that they too are human. I would venture to guess that if more citizens were to go to their local police department and request to ride along with an officer for a week or two that they would walk away with a vastly different view of police officers. You know… walk a mile in their shoes.

I seriously doubt that Dr. Gates was placed in handcuffs and arrested because of his race. Oh and no, the police officer isn't necessarily always without fault, nor are they necessarily always right.