Prof. Gates and Sgt. Crowley

If both were the same race, would there have been a different outcome? I doubt it.

A friend in Boston – we have known each other well for 30 years ; he is black and I am white – have talked a lot about the reporting on what happened between Professor Gates and Sargent Crowley in Cambridge. He asked me today, ‘What would have happened if Prof. Gates had been white?’ My immediate reaction was that nothing substantive in what went on between the two would have been different; there probably would have been no media reporting either. I have been thinking about this all day – what caused the interaction between what appear to be two level-headed, well-intentioned and responsible men was miscommunication rooted in legitimate but conflicting expectations of deference. The NY Times has a lengthy piece today that speaks to this. Professor Gates, a citizen in his own home with no knowledge that anything amiss had been reported, had a legitimate expectation that the policeman at his door was not there to investigate or question him or his actions, and would exhibit respect and deference to the sanctity of that home. Sargent Crowley, invested with the authority to investigate potential crimes and, if necessary, use force, had the legitimate expectation that a person in a house where something amiss had been reported would exhibit respect and deference to his lawful authority. Two honorable men were talking right past each other. If we are honest, we will acknowledge that race may have been a factor in each man’s response. We would also have to acknowledge that race did not spark the interaction or determine its outcome. See today’s article in the New York Times.