Americans love our freedom and we love to fight. This volatile combination is how our country was formed and grew and why we can justify planting our flag anywhere in the world where human rights appear threatened. It is also how small unimportant incidents between two male egos can escalate into major national issues that grab the headlines and stir the pot. Take the strange case of Dr. Henry Louis Gates of Cambridge, Massachusetts.
By now we all know the facts… or not, as the case may be. After all, any two people will report on a given occurrence differently simply because they saw it from two different vantage points. So when two people are trying to recollect an electrically charged event in which they participated, and trying not to look like an ass in the bargain, there’s little question that their reports are going to be skewed. But here’s the gist… I think.
Dr. Gates, a renowned black scholar of African American history at Harvard University was arrested in his home for disorderly conduct by a white policeman who had responded to a call about a break in. According to Gates, when he returned home, after an extended trip to China, he found the door jammed and had to use force to enter. No one is denying that fact, which is what prompted the call to the police by a concerned neighbor.
There is also no disagreement about the fact that Dr. Gates became angry, raised his voice, complained about being racially profiled, refused to show appropriate ID, and stated that the only reason the officer wanted to speak with him was because he “was a black man in America.” When he finally did present an ID, it was a Harvard one, which showed that he was a college professor (and therefore probably not a burglar), but was as useful as if he were parking in a Harvard lot and when asked for proof of his right to park there, held up the deed to his house.
In the good Doctor’s defense, it should not be forgotten that he had just returned home “after an extended trip to China” and you know how exhausted you are after a long flight and just want to go to sleep, and here was this policeman in the house and this is the last thing I need, and… but I digress.
Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter who was right and who was wrong. In fact, when viewed from each of their individual platforms, both Dr. Gates and the policeman can justify their actions and claim sainthood. However, from the Higher Consciousness perspective, both of them were missing in action, acting solely from their own egos without regard for the larger truth. One had to defend that he was Black. One had to defend that he was a Policeman. What we have here is nothing more than what happens in the wild when two alpha males lock horns and neither one is willing to back down.
Gates could have realized that a policeman coming to check out his house when a forced entry is reported is a good thing, apologized for his immediate reaction, showed a driver’s license with the address on it, thanked the officer, ushered him to the door, and gone to bed. Crisis averted.
The policeman could have realized he was dealing with an exhausted college professor not a thug, apologized for causing him inconvenience, said how glad he was that this was a false alarm, made for the door, and headed to his next emergency. Crisis averted.
In either case, by taking a larger view and focusing on the desired result, peaceful settlement of a confrontation between two educated, well intentioned persons, tempers would have cooled, nothing would have made the news, Obama wouldn’t have gotten involved, race relations wouldn’t have taken a backwards step, and I’d have no human stupidity to write about this week. Yeah…. right!
peace……………..ag
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