Hey guys. I dont know if anyone else is excited to go to USA Today tomorrow, but I definitely am. I have been looking foward to it and I am excited that its finally here!
I wanted to talk more about the Henry Louis Gates issue that happened yesterday. That really caught my attention that this guy had to go through all that even after he showed that it really was his house. In the USA Today it says "This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department," it said. I think thats nonsense becuase it is demeaning the reputation of Professor Gates. It was racial profiling. You would think that after he showed them his address they would let him go, but they did not and i think that was because of his race. Obviously I think they would have known to let him go even before that because of who he is, but I guess not. I agree with Gates when he said he was glad that the neighbors called the police, because I would want to know if someone was robbing my house, but it went too far. No one should be treated like that no matter what race, ethnicity, gender, etc. you are. Let me know your thoughts. Thanks =)
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I agree with you. Hopefully, this will lead to more sensitivity training for Cambridge police and police departments elsewhere. However, we must also keep in mind that we do not have video of the incident. It's likely that Gates was, in fact, loud and disruptive. Hopefully he and others will learn to respect police officers when trying to correct them. I don't think that his cuffing was justified, though, and like I said, I don't know if he was being truly aggressive.
ReplyDeleteIt's eveident why Gates needed to be handcuffed in his own living room.. His body build and age were clear factors of the dangers he presented to those armed cops. And that cane he was holding was obviously a weapon of mass destruction that needed to be contained.
ReplyDeleteTime to clean up the police force, eh Cambridge?
I agree Jenny, it was racial profiling, but i'm sure ignorance was a contributing factor.
I want to know more specifics about the situation. It could be racial profiling; however, I am not convinced. Didn't the police arrest him because he was growing increasingly hostile towards them? One would expect them to do that regardless of whether or not that was his home.
ReplyDeleteWell put, Gabrielle.
ReplyDeleteI also would like more information on the issue.
ReplyDeleteThat's where our fellow journalists come in!
There could be the slight possibility that Gates was overreacting and got too defensive towards the police. He might've really needed to calm down even if the police made such a huge mistake.
Overall, as we've all said, Gates didn't deserve to get arrested if he showed his proof of residency. Even if he was a bit verbally hostile, I don't think he should've gotten arrested because he was simply trying to defend himself. He probably just lost control out of disbelief.
We'll have to keep reading about this issue to get the facts straight.
It is sad that this still exists in society today after all of the progress we have made. I agree with Ann and Shannon that we must continue to follow the story and learn more about it before we place the blame entirely on one of the people involved. Maybe the officer over-reacted in a really horrible way. Or maybe Gates did. Either way, Gates should not have been arrested, but once the truth is discovered we will be able to thoroughly assess the situation. But, like Shannon said, it is up to our fellow journalists to continue to inform us.
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