Professor Grievance Should Be Canned

I promised myself I wouldn’t succumb to the temptation to write about Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and his hysterical claims about racial profiling et al. He has never been considered by me as anything more than a predictable, politically correct Harvard hire. He’s lived his life as a walking and talking race baiter disguised as an academic.
The incident itself went according to script. The good professor returns home from a trip to China to discover he’s locked out of his fancy Victorian house on one of Cambridge’s more expensive streets. He goes around back to disable the alarm before asking his African-American driver to assist him in getting into the house. How many of us have climbed through a window or even broken one after locking ourselves out of our home? I know I have. If a cop showed up in my driveway at that point to ask me what I’m doing, I can assure you I would understand and even appreciate his or her efforts.
In Professor Grievance’s case, the police were there because a thoughtful and well meaning neighbor was concerned there could be a burglary in progress. It wasn’t as if the Cambridge cops were cruising around looking for middle-age black men to hassle. If you’ve ever spent time in the Peoples Republic of Cambridge, you would really understand that you have to get pretty jiggy before the gendarmes put the cuffs on you.
It was the announcement Monday that prompted me to write this little diatribe. The underlying assumption in this case has been that the woman who called police to report suspicious activity at the Gate’s residence specifically referenced the presence of two black men pushing in the front door. This poor woman has been in virtual seclusion all through this national hand-wringing, as one person after another has called her racist or worse.
The woman in question, Lucia Whalen, lives about 100 yards from the Gates residence and is of Portuguese descent, if anyone cares. Other than seeing the backs of two grown men attempting to push open the front door, Whelan said she was motivated by the fact there had been several break-ins in recent weeks in the neighborhood. So far, I’m not seeing any burning crosses or white pointy hoods.
Instead of calling Whalen and the responding police officers racists, Gates should have thanked them for their prompt response and calmly sorted it out on the porch as the cops requested. These types of incidents happen every day in America and don’t usually end with the homeowner in handcuffs.
In the case of Professor Grievance, the chip on his shoulder must have impeded the flow of oxygen to his brain. In spite of Professor Gate’s inflated opinion of his own celebrity, playing the “You don’t know who I am” card has never been a big hit with police. Referencing their “Mama” will also fast track most of us to the back of a squad car.
Now we all know President Obama really stepped in it when he elected to weigh in on Gates behalf. First of all, the President of the United States should have better things to do that react to a local beef. As an alleged constitutional authority, Obama should realize you don’t comment until you have all the facts. That he did says something about Obama’s real racial mindset and takes a bit of the sheen off his post-racial political identity.
Here’s how this sorry saga must end. The authorities in Cambridge must release the police tapes. My understanding is the tapes will totally vindicate the police and put the lie to Professor Grievance and his Al Sharpton imitation. Isn’t it interesting that Rev. Al didn’t hop that plane to Boston and get into the act? My guess is even he saw enough holes in Gate’s version, he didn’t want to look foolish again.(Can you say Tawana Brawley) The tapes will likely show a fairly routine “possible burglary in progress call” from a neighbor describing two men, followed by increasing radio chatter about a belligerent and disorderly person. Gates was eventually arrested for disorderly conduct and the charges later dropped.
As for Obama’s plan to have Gates and Sgt. Crowley to the White House for a beer, I find that pathetic and transparent. Gates and Obama are just trying to save face and the only victim in that room would be the cop. He was just doing his job and unfortunately so was Professor Grievance. Harvard should fire Gates but we all know they never will.