The color line comes to Mr Gates....

Charges Against Henry Louis Gates Dropped

All Things Considered, July 21, 2009 ·

Disorderly conduct charges are being dropped against Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. who was arrested at his home last week after apparently being mistaken for a burglar.

Gates, a famous scholar of black history, was arrested last Thursday following his return from China and found his front door was swelled shut. He called his driver over to help. Someone saw them forcing open the door of the house near Harvard Square and called the police.

By the time a police sergeant showed up, Gates was already inside.

Gates walked to the screen door and before he could say anything he was asked to step outside, says Gates' lawyer Charles Ogletree, also a Harvard professor.

"He [Gates] stepped outside and said, 'What?' He [the officer] said, 'Step outside, please,'" Ogletree says. "He [Gates] said, 'Oh, this is my house. I live here. This door was jammed.'

"And he [the officer] said, 'Well, will you step outside?' He [Gates] said, 'I'm not going to step outside you didn't tell me who you are.' And the officer said, 'Do you have some identification?'"

Differing Accounts

This is where Gates' and the sergeants' accounts start to differ. The police report says Gates at first refused to provide identification and asked if the officer was there because he was "a black man in America."

Gates' lawyer, however, says Gates went inside and showed the sergeant his Harvard ID and his driver's license with his photo and address on it.

"It was clear the officer then understood what had happened," Ogletree says. "The officer nevertheless said we're investigating a break-in that's in progress.

"He [Gates] says, 'This is my house. I live here. You can ask anybody. Why are you doing this to me? Is it because I'm a black man and you're a white police officer?"

The sergeant, in the police report, says Gates became upset and began yelling over his words. The sergeant says he told Gates if he wanted to talk more he was heading outside. Gates reply, he says, was: "I'll speak with your mama outside."

The report says Gates did follow the sergeant outside and made enough of a disturbance that people were gathering around on the street. Ogletree says Gates did not yell or insult the officer. The 58-year-old professor was handcuffed and arrested for disorderly conduct.

"He hobbled down the stairs and they placed him in the rear of a police cruiser," Ogletree says. "His secretary was at the window crying and trying to see what was going on."

Charges Dropped

As word spread, fellow black professors at Harvard accused the police of racism. Blogs and local TV shows buzzed with the story.

It certainly didn't look good: arresting a world-renowned black scholar in front of his own house after someone mistakenly took him for a burglar.

The City of Cambridge, Mass., dismissed the charges Tuesday.

"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," says Kelly Downs, a spokeswoman for the department. "All parties agree this is a just resolution to an unfortunate set of circumstances."

Downs insists race was not a factor in the arrest, which she called justified. Some experts such as Dennis Kenney, a former police officer and a professor at John Jay College of Criminal Justice, raise their eyebrows at that assertion.

"In this case, the charges have been dropped it suggests there was no backing to the arrest, which, in fact, now does expose the department and the officer to some civil risk as well," he says.

***So here's the thing....I've read much of Gates' work including "America Behind the Color Line" and from this account, it sounds like there's a little truth in both sides. My Nana always taught me there's 3 sides to a story, his/his/and the truth and the latter pulls from both of the previous. I think this negro was jet lagged, tired and irritated and the PD chose the wrong negro to harass. I guarantee he was NOT playing Dudley Do-Right citizen and definitely had some words to say but to warrant an arrest? I think not. Obama is in office folks...let's do better...