Cockroach People
Rants and ruminations by a classical liberal with radical Chicano tendencies
“Ya, I’ll speak to your momma outside.”
21 Jul 2009
***UPDATE: it looks like the “disorderly conduct” charge is being dropped. And here’s an excerpt from Barack’s response : “What I think we know, separate and apart from this incident, is that there’s a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately. That’s just a fact.” He also says that the police “acted stupidly.”***
To some people, talking about racism is old-hat, especially now that Barack Obama is president. Surely, not every incident or occurrence can be explained by racism. Maybe there is a grain of truth to that idea. Certainly, the police also harass white people once and a while–especially in poor areas. And surely, some folks get in trouble with the police because of something that was actually their fault. But I can’t imagine that the arrest of Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates in his own home had nothing to do with race.
I am not familiar with the culture at Harvard, but Gates’ story is standard for many people of color at any university let alone an elite one. I knew African-American students at the University of Chicago who were stopped repeatedly by police and forced to produce identification. I don’t remember this happening to me or any other student. I guess if the students had been throwing up gang signs or wearing gangster-gear there might be a slight justification–but my classmates were just as nerdy as every other kid at the U of C, making racial appearance the only possible difference that the police could have noticed.
Racial profiling is everywhere. When I lived in Irvine, California, there were not many African-Americans or non-gardener Latinos. I was frequently stopped on the street and asked what I was doing there. When I responded that I lived there, I often was met with a “Terry” pat-down and some stupid statement such as “are you here looking for “hinas?” Even when I lived in Los Angeles, I often would get pulled-over by the police and forced to exit my vehicle–sometimes with a gun pointed at my head–for no good reason. To this day, I have a habit of looking in my rear-view mirror for police cars (even when I’m not speeding).
No matter where you are in America, if you are black or brown and unrecognized, you are more likely to get stopped by the police. And if you talk back to the police, you’re going to get arrested, beat down, or killed. I have enough street smarts to know that you can’t mouth off to the police when you are alone (i.e. not in front of cameras or a lot of witnesses). Thus, on the one hand I think Gates might have avoided arrest by keeping quiet–this is just something most of us have learned the hard way. But on the other hand, the police should have left his property once they had verified his information instead of arresting him. A renowned Harvard academic (who ironically has often been accused by Black scholars as being too white) has every right to vent about being treated so shabbily. Even if Gates were not so accomplished, he still has a right to protest, especially in his own damned home! The officer was upset because Gates allegedly responded “Ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside,” when he was asked to exit his home. Is that it? Seriously? Poor cop, he must have been terrified by this 60 year -old man and his foul language.
Here’s the police report.
Photo from JackandJillpolitics.com
- Tags: African-Americans, Black academic, Cambridge police, chicano blog, Chicano blogger, disorderly conduct, Harvard, Henry Louis Gates, i'll speak with your mama outside, latino blog, latino blogger, latinos, obama, police, police acted stupidly, racial profiling, racism, Skip Gates, University of Chicago
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About this blog
While some people look at cockroaches as disgusting pests, I view them as resilient organisms that predate humans and will likely outlive us as well. People of color, the poor, the downtrodden, and the oppressed, much like cockroaches, are often despised, feared and in some cases have been the objects of extermination.
I started this blog as an attempt to understand the complicated world we live in. Things have changed since the old days of conquest, colonization, and slavery. Anonymous living, consumerism, and mass media have made it difficult to identify the forces that make modern-day oppression possible. Thus, posts here tend to focus on corruption, media, bureaucracy, ethics, economics, law, human rights, etc...in short, I try to take a second-order inquiry into assumptions and systems that some of us take for granted. I also take time to challenge stereotypes that function to place us in a box. Occasionally, I just rant.
Thank your for reading!
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8 Responses to “Ya, I’ll speak to your momma outside.”
Carla Peralta
July 21st, 2009 at 12:52 pm
I know that in the heat of the moment people don’t think too clearly, let alone strategically, but I am glad that Skip let himself get arrested. Seeing his mugshot is a solid reminder of the all too true reality in this country: although black and brown people have opportunity to punch through and be academics, professionals, wealthy, celebrities, and yes, the First Couple, we cannot escape everything else that comes with the melanin content of our skin. True multi-taskers are we.
Carlos Cumpian
July 23rd, 2009 at 6:50 am
I love the fact Harvard police were called and they couldn’t call off the other cops.
It takes time to know your neighbors, I guess everyone should start knocking on each other’s doors and making introductions because wasn’t it a neighbor calling the cops that didn’t recognize Prof. Gates that started this ball bouncing? At least she called thinking she was helping protect the neighborhood…some places nobody will get involved.
Rey Lopez-Calderon
July 23rd, 2009 at 7:19 am
Carlos–I’m not sure where exactly Whalen lives–the police report says she was on a cell phone. I agree with you about knowing your neighbors and keeping a watch out. But the question is whether Gates’ color was at all a factor in his eventual arrest? Would a similarly situated white dude inspire a call to the po-po?
Sharon Aftab
July 23rd, 2009 at 9:57 am
I spent several years living in Utah. Because I am a Eurasian brunette living in a land of blondes I was constantly questioned in regards to my ethnic identity or where I was from. My former spouse (Pakistani) was pulled over on several occasions for absolutly nothing. Of course apologies were issued when he pulled out Federal ID.
This is when I knew it was time to leave SLC…..there were a couple of murderous locals on the loose. They had already taken the life of 2 bar owners. They called themselves the preppie bandits. We had reason to believe they were staying with our neighbors. The police showed up and asked for OUR ID’S in our home! When I explained again WHY I had called he wanted to search OUR apartment. Unbelieveable! Next day we came home to an “OK CORRAL” scene. One of our caucasian neighbors had called this time, however the “preppie bandits” were long gone.
This was our theory; The preppie bandits escaped that time not because the cop was white. They escaped because of his LACK of education, diversity training and global thinking.
Rey Lopez-Calderon
July 23rd, 2009 at 10:13 am
Sharon–OMG
Gabriel
July 27th, 2009 at 6:51 pm
I don’t think race was an issue as much as temperament. From personal experiences with police, some have been as pleasant as that type of situation can be, and some have ranged from abusive to unlawful on the officers part. A couple of my worst experiences have been with some latino cops. Maybe they get too comfortable with familiarity and think its okay. But my overall experiences with any officer from any race, color or creed and gender have all revolved around a respect factor, even when I was at fault. The police tend to have a low tolerance for a lack of cooperation of any sort, from benign to belligerent. It could be low self esteem, the unpredictability of the job, protocol, or they could just simply be assholes. But in this case, it’s not clear who overreacted more.
http://s.wsj.net/public/resources/documents/WSJ_audioPlayer08.html?audioFile=http://s.wsj.net/media/072709cambridge.mp3&trackName=072709cambridge.mp3
Rey Lopez-Calderon
July 27th, 2009 at 8:24 pm
Gabriel–I do think Gates reacted quite belligerently. My point is that as someone who has been racially profiled, I get his anger.
I heard the audio earlier today. It doesn’t change my mind much. It just gets me to note that initially the possible burglar was “Hispanic.” That’s not a whole heck of a lot better than thinking it was a black dude. The caller didn’t know that much mainly because she was calling on behalf of someone else. I don’t know what the actual neighbor was thinking.
I agree about the respect factor, but even if you subtract race from the equation we’re still left with an inappropriate overreaction by the police. I do have a higher standard for them than someone who is feeling humiliated (whether justified or not) in their own home.
Again, you and I have better street smarts. But we’re talking about an elderly academic here. I’m fully willing to cut him some slack.
Gabriel
July 28th, 2009 at 5:29 pm
As someone who has broken into his own home many times, the humiliation was already there from having to break in. Then the police officers show up and do not recognize him, and then he has to identify himself. I think the professor was pissed and reacted from that. Then the officer had no patience and arrested the dude. Egos. I mean, i’ve been stopped due to profiling: walking, standing, driving, etc. This encounter is nowhere near what my experiences were. Now if the police didnt show up to investigate, because they knew the owner was black, i would have a problem with. If you show up its “profiling”, and if you don’t show up it’s “de-policing”. Either you want the cops to show up or you dont. The fact that they said he could have been Hispanic would been way better than if the neighbor, through the caller, said they were white, because that would have suggested the caller was blind and not credible. The brother looks Latino a little bit.