Numerous diaries and comments are being written to analyse the brouhaha that has developed over the tussle between Harvard Professor Louis Henry Gates and the Cambridge police departmetn, over the professor's arrest for being disorderly in his own living room.
I'm going to explain why I must believe that Gates is right, in light of my experience, and suggest that, while not every may feel that way, it is imperative to approach the officer's story with a good deal of skepticism.
I'll share my experience over the fold. But first, disclaimers are in order. We are a middle class white family, and at the time lived in a new subdivision that was all white. Along the way of this journey, we had the help of a very generous and wise African American community organizer. I say this only to provoke this thought: if what I am about to describe could happen to us, what was happening in the African American neighborhood?
So, let's jump and I'll tell my story.
I'm going to allow others to restate the facts of the Gates case, particularly the excellent diary by Justashotaway. It can be found here.
It was Christmas Day 1972. I had just crawled out of bed after a night of celebrations of the holiday. My sister noted we needed something (don't remember what), and since my car was behind her's in the driveway, I told her to take my car.
Fifteen minutes or so later, my young cousin came running back into the house and exclaimed Sharon was in a wreck and I better come right away. As I got dressed, she explained the policeman needed me there because he needed proof my sister had the car with my permission.
Now, that's an important point, because most of you are probably now wondering "WTF? Why summon the owner when they shared the same last name and address?" Anyway, it goes to a point I'll make a little later.
So we grabbed the keys to my Dad's car and set off for the accident scene a few blocks away. On arriving at the scene, I saw the damage was light and, more importantly, my sister was Ok.
She had been traveling down a much used street in our subdivision when a pickup truck backed out his driveway and clipped my sister's car. The police were summoned, and the officer didn't need an introduction to the driver of the pickup. Seems they knew each other well.
My sister was cited for reckless driving (at 20 MPH), and I arrived just as he handed the ticket to her. She turned to me and began exlaining what happened.
While my sister was talking, the copy asked for my ID. When I showed it to him (while listening to my sister, who was upset), he asked if I owned the car (Yes) and did I loan it to my OLDER sister (Yeah, she was an adult). Again I said Yes and, based on her story I asked what made him think she was at fault. He looked at me, looked at her, and told her to shut up.
As he turned away, I go brash (as 18 year olds tend to) and asked him for his badge number. Whereupon, all hell broke loose.
Remember I said he wanted me there to confirm ownership, etc? Well, that's not part of police procedure. Never was. What was happening was a chauvinistic show of power and authority. This copy was tripping on testosterone and resented any challenge to his authority.
Thus, my request for his badge number triggered his rage. He swung around and slapped my sister twice, hard enough to leave a bruise on her face. Then he grabbed her by her arm, threw her to the pavement, and dragged her (now kicking, screaming and crying) to the cruiser and shoved her in the back seat of his cruiser. He then got on the seat beside her and started ripping her dress off. I suspect he wanted to rape her (yeah, with myself and my 10 year old cousin watching).
About this time, my mother arrived and a crowd started to gather. When my mother made herself known, he cuffed my sister, hit the side of her head and locked her in the cruiser. He then announced she was under arrest for "disorderly conduct".
I immediately went and got money from the ATM and went to bail her out. We were told by the Sargent we would have to go to the State Woman's prison 50 miles away.
So we proceeded there. When we arrived, we were told there was no record of her arrest. A call to the police station and the Sargent we had talked to said there was now no record of her arrest.
Talk about frantic and worried! Did he stop somewhere and finish raping her? Did he strip her and put on the street somewhere in the cold? We didn't know, still don't. It was three hours later that the authorities finally admitted to holding her.
We waited another 8 hours after that (we're up to about 13 hours after the arrest, for those keeping count), she was finally bonded out by me.
She was arraigned the following week, but with the help of a very talented and straight up community organizer that we met at the courthouse, we talked with the prosecutor, who was inclined to let the case go forward. When we mentioned that we would have to file a suit over the abuse, and offered the photographic evident of her bruises, scrapes and torn dress, and that we would also have to go to the media; well, he rethought his position and dropped the case.
We, of course, filed a complaint with the city police. An "internal investigation" showed no wrong-doing on the part of the officer.
If you have stuck with my story thus far, I hope you will now understand where I come from when I say I can never trust the police. In all my dealings with them since that day, I expect them to act like thugs. I am sure to act polite, deferential to the point of subservience, and offer no offense.
Still, I expect to be hit, bullied and shamed. It has been thus since that day, some 37 years ago.
Having said all this, I must be automatically skeptical of officer Crowley's account, and of the legitimacy of Gates' arrest. My own experience, and the dictum that Gates is innocent until Crowely proves him guilty, leaves me no other choice.
Since that day I have not trusted, nor will I ever automatically trust, what a police officer says. Further, the "internal investigation" of the Columbus Police proved, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that officers will not discipline their own. I believe their frame of reference is that it is them against the citizens, and a war to hold the unruly behavior of free people at bay.
That's really all there is to it. And yes, it really is that simple.