Who learned what in Gates race debate
The flap over the arrest of the black Harvard scholar sparked a spirited national discussion, but did it turn out to be a 鈥榯eachable moment鈥�?
Get-together: President Obama and Vice President Joe Biden met July 30 at the White House with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. (second from left) and Sgt. James Crowley.
Alex Brandon/AP
President Obama may have sensed the country鈥檚 mood when he picked the spot to discuss race in America. Not a hall, convention center, TV studio, or even the Oval Office.
A picnic table.
The president鈥檚 informal chat July 30 with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Sgt. James Crowley 鈥� the police officer who arrested Dr. Gates at his own home for disorderly conduct on July 16 鈥� followed a spontaneous national debate that, in many ways, proved to be more candid and spirited than President Clinton鈥檚 somewhat academic 鈥渘ational discussion on race鈥� in 1997.
The confrontation between a scholar of African-American studies and a blue-collar cop in Cambridge, Mass., reverberated across the nation, and from Berkeley, Calif., to New York the dialogue about it was frank, frustrating, and far from conclusive. At least two Americans 鈥� a Boston police officer and a Manhattan press secretary 鈥� left their jobs after chiming in, and even after the White House picnic, the two protagonists 鈥渁greed to disagree,鈥� in Crowley鈥檚 words.
In short, there were no pat answers, no tying it up nicely with a bow on top. But the episode did provide a case study for Americans to begin to see at least one divisive issue 鈥� racial profiling 鈥� through the eyes of the other side.
鈥淭he left and the right have been arguing past each other for a long time, and the debate over the Gates case shows there鈥檚 really another way of looking at race: the ... tradition that makes the individual the measure,鈥� says Jonathan Bean, author of the book 鈥淩ace and Liberty in America.鈥�
These fault lines are deep, and they played out predictably in the first days after Gates鈥檚 arrest. Many on the left backed Gates鈥檚 accusations of racial profiling and police bias. On the right, critics said Gates jumped to conclusions and assumed the worst about a white man.
Yet as details about the incident unwound, many Americans found they could see both sides of the encounter.
Susan Kachmar, who lives on a horse farm in rural Mondovi, Wis., saw fault on both sides. Gates lived up to the stereotype of the 鈥渁ngry black man,鈥� she says in an e-mail. 鈥淗e is a man with much to be proud of, but instead wears his success like a chip on his shoulder,鈥� she writes.
But she also saw in the police a brook-no-criticism response: They 鈥渁re like a large extended family that looks after each other and does not let anybody else in,鈥� she adds.
She, like many other Americans, was called upon to be a jury of one.
鈥淭he American people have to do exactly what jurors do in lawsuits: Step back, listen to all the facts, and draw some conclusions,鈥� says Denise Drake, a labor lawyer in Kansas City, Mo.
Their verdict, according to a July 27 Rasmussen poll, is that the country is doing a good job of listening to all sides. Some 69 percent of respondents said the country is 鈥渇air and decent.鈥�
In New York鈥檚 Brooklyn, sales associate Scott Chisholm, who is white, sees some progress. 鈥淚 definitely think we鈥檙e getting better at [talking about race],鈥� he says. 鈥淸But] I don鈥檛 think we鈥檙e where we need to be right now, that鈥檚 for sure.鈥�
In general, white Americans are increasingly finding their public voice on race, says Ward Connerly, director of the American Civil Rights Institute, which advocates banning racial preferences.
鈥淯ntil now, the debate was being driven by people like Professor Gates. Now, whites are far more willing to say what they believe,鈥� he says.
In some cases, that outspokenness had a dark side 鈥� and the speakers paid a price. A Boston police officer provided the most egregious example, dropping 鈥渏ungle monkey鈥� into a mass e-mail about Gates. He was placed on administrative leave last week.
In New York, Lee Landor, a deputy press secretary for Manhattan鈥檚 borough president, resigned last week after calling Obama 鈥淥-dumb-a鈥� and appearing to defend racial profiling on her Facebook page. 鈥淩acial profiling does exist, but for good reason,鈥� she wrote. 鈥淭ake a look at this country鈥檚 jails: who makes up the majority of inmates? Exactly.鈥�
Ms. Landor says the uproar over her opinions shows that the media, especially, prevent frank talk. 鈥淭he media perpetuate this whole 鈥榮ensitive, untouchable subject thing鈥� around race,鈥� she said by phone.
She hopes that people learn from what happened to her.
鈥淔or all of this to go to waste, for so many people 鈥� my family 鈥� to be hurt and it just to be a public spectacle, it would be a shame,鈥� she says. 鈥淟ike Obama said, it is a teachable moment. We have to let go of that defensiveness and ... speak with the intention of sharing and solving.鈥�
Brooklynite Chantz Jones, who is black, sees limits too, but from the opposite perspective.
鈥淭he only time race comes up is when there鈥檚 an incident,鈥� says Mr. Jones. 鈥淭his is something we always had, so why would you only deal with it when there鈥檚 an incident?鈥�
His take on the current debate: four men at a picnic table, with reporters standing by. 鈥淚f y鈥檃ll gonna let us be heard, let us be heard for real,鈥� he says.