Another way of looking at a much-discussed event

After the arrest in July of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, Jr., the incident became the center of much debate and discussion, prompting statements in the aftermath by Gates, the arresting officer and police officials, and even Barack Obama. Many people have their own take on what happened and who was wrong, but here’s another idea – maybe everyone was right.

Gates, a prominent thinker and voice of African Americans, likely felt offended that someone would question that he owned the house and suspected racial profiling. In an opinion article in the New York Times, author Stanley Fish remembers when Gates bought a grand house in Durham, NC and during a renovation of the house was mistaken by crews as a servant, rather than the owner. As someone who has experienced discrimination and has surely become familiar with others’ experiences of discrimination through his work, Professor Gates likely was viewing the situation through that lens and couldn’t stand by while he was being treated differently than a white person would have been. “This isn’t about me; this is about the vulnerability of black men in America,” the Associated Press quotes him as saying.

Sergeant James Crowley of the Cambridge Police Department, a seemingly highly-respected officer who teaches about racial profiling at the police academy, acted in a way that he considered appropriate. Responding to a complaint about a possible crime, he responded to the scene only to find himself faced with someone being non-compliant, verbally aggressive, and creating disorder. Crowley therefore arrested him for disorderly conduct. The Cambridge Police Commissioner, others in the department, and police unions (video) have come out in support of the sergeant. (See this video for Sergeant Crowley’s description of the events, as well as some clips of Gates’ description.)

President Obama, cool-tempered and social-wound-healing, possibly saw a situation that was neither of those things and felt that the situation should have been resolved when police determined Gates’ identity. Being someone who believes in debate and open discussion about sensitive issues, Obama spoke his mind. Later, when he realized that his comments had contributed to “ratcheting up” the situation, he softened his language, still addressing the issue in a way that would keep the discussion going. (See this video of Obama’s second set of remarks.)

A New York Times article discussing racial progress contains an explanation by a diversity consultant on an unwritten code that minorities follow when confronted by the police. The code includes quiet politeness and using “sir.” The article implies that this is something special for minorities, but it’s not; this is proper procedure for anyone dealing with someone in uniform. When a law enforcement officer is investigating a possible crime, people are supposed to cooperate, whoever they are. There is a big exception accepted by society, however, and that is when the person being confronted by police believes that his civil rights are being violated or that he must stand up for a higher cause. Based on all the articles and discussion out there, it is clear that there are people who see this case from both views. No matter who was right and who, if anyone, was wrong, the Gates arrest has at least given the county a new reason to discuss race relations and make progress toward mutual understanding.

Incidentally, while kicking these ideas around in my head recently, I happened to learn of a quote by the recently deceased Robert McNamara, former Secretary of Defense, about the Cuban Missile Crisis. He points out that Kennedy, Castro, and Khrushchev were all rational. McNamara, an economist who loved numbers and cool calculation, was making the point was that rational actors acting in their best interests nearly caused massive destruction. Maybe in the Gates case, the actions of Gates, Crowley, and Obama, actions which have been criticized as irrational, were in fact rational actions based on each person’s view of the situation and what was at stake. Like the potential destruction of the Cuban Missile Crisis, perhaps the conflicting rational actions also caused destruction of sorts — destruction of the status quo of our race relations. The trick will be to make it a creative destruction.

Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., Sergeant James Crowley and President Barack Obama toast at the start of their meeting in the Rose Garden of the White House, July 30, 2009. Cropped from an official White House Photo by Pete Souza.