Those of you who listened to Obama’s press conference last night heard his remarks about Henry Louis Gates, Jr’s allegations of racism against the Cambridge, MA police department.
Here is the police report. Go read it and decide for yourself if, in Obama’s words, the officer really did act “stupidly.”
Crowley speaks to the media outside his home...photo courtesy of masslive.com
Gates knows better. Obama knows better. The message Obama is sending to youth about officers in uniform is nothing short of reckless. Yes, someone was acting stupidly, both last night and on July 16, but it wasn’t the Cambridge police.
In addition to the police report (there are witnesses to corroborate), take this into account: Sgt. James Crowley, who arrested Gates, is a police academy expert on racial profiling. He has taught a class about racial profiling for the last five years, after being picked for the position by former police Commissioner Ronny Watson.
What possible motivation would the guy have for being outlandishly racist, like Gates is arguing?
This is Cambridge, people! The streets aren’t exactly teeming with gun-totin, handlebar moustache-sportin hillbillies flying the stars and bars in the back of a Ford pickup. If Crowley had even a small hint of racism in him, he’d have been run outta town a long time ago.
Gates’ accusation does everyone a disservice…he is watering down the meaning of the word ‘racism.’ I’ve been accused of being racist countless times by infantile teenagers looking to squiggle out of being disciplined (ironically, they all have accused me of being racist while my fiance’s picture is staring back at them on my desk), and every time they level that accusation against me, it becomes just another instance of the ‘boy crying wolf.’ No different here.
