Thoughts on Henry Louis Gates

It's been done to death, but since I pontificate randomly here I'm thinking I'll give my 2c on the Henry Louis Gates situation.

Am I the only person in America who sees both sides of this?

Gates: He lost his keys and so had to jimmy his lock. How racist/paranoid are *his neighbors* that they would see their own neighbor at his door and call the cops to say he's breaking in (and why hasn't anyone asked this question?)? But he gets inside, relaxing after a long trip, and a cop shows up and is all up in his face. Even after he shows ID the cop won't leave him alone.

Cop: He got a call about a B&E. He shows up and there's a guy hanging out in the house that matches the description of the alleged perp. Yes he can show ID saying that's his house but fake ID is pretty easy to make these days and if you're going to rip off a house in that neighborhood maybe you'd spend the $100 to take care of that too. He asks him a few routine questions and he goes mental. The cop has no idea what's going on, he got called to a B&E remember, so for all he knows this guy is armed. Better to get him down to the station.

And here's the subtext for me: The cop is treating Gates like any other suspected felon. Gates perceives himself as being treated like a felon because he's black. Maybe they're both right. But maybe, and just maybe, Gates is also pissed because he's not supposed to be treated this way.

Let's compare: when the Stanley Cup playoffs were going on, and the New Jersey and Boston fans were showing up at this blog and running their mouths off about how Southerners are all cousin-marrying hicks... That's *the other* Southerners, the white trash ones, and people on this blog aren't white trash, right? So when an outsider says "whatever, you're all the same, you're from the South, you're white trash" that cuts a bit deeper. Doesn't it? And I'm not pointing fingers here: same thing when people try to say all Canadians are self-absorbed Toronto assholes. No we're not. And for the cop, maybe reminding him that there are some racist cops and how would he like to be thought of as a racist, that might get him in the right frame of mind. Or maybe not.

This is a nice way of saying the same thing other people in other places have mentioned about how Gates had his realization that, to a cop, he's just a nigger. Maybe. But we all have groups we don't want to be considered a part of, and we all get upset when we're lumped in with them. Perhaps a bit of realization that the phenomenon is more universal than the media is letting on, maybe that might help to defuse things.

Then again, maybe not.