Gates on Arrest: Time to Move On

(AP)  Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. says he is ready to move on from his arrest by a white police officer, hoping to use the encounter to improve fairness in the criminal justice system and saying "in the end, this is not about me at all."

After a phone call from President Barack Obama urging calm in the aftermath of his arrest last week, the black professor said he would accept Mr. Obama's invitation to the White House for a beer with him and Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley.

In a statement posted Friday on The Root, a Web site Gates oversees, the scholar said he told the president he would be happy to meet with Crowley, whom Gates had accused of racial profiling.

"I told the president that my principal regret was that all of the attention paid to his deeply supportive remarks during his press conference had distracted attention from his health care initiative," Gates said. "I am pleased that he, too, is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment, and if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the President will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige."

It was a marked change in tone for Gates, 58, one of the nation's preeminent African-American scholars. In the days following his arrest, Gates gathered up his legal team and said he was contemplating a lawsuit. He even vowed to make a documentary on his arrest to tie into a larger project about racial profiling.

In an e-mail to the Boston Globe late Friday, he said: "It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience."

Gates did not immediately return phone calls and e-mails to The Associated Press on Saturday.

Crowley, 42, also did not return a telephone message seeking comment Saturday.

The outcry began on Monday, when word broke that Gates, 58, had been arrested five days earlier at the two-story home he rents from Harvard. Police were responding to a call about a possible break-in at the home.

Supporters including civil rights leaders Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson called the arrest an outrageous act of racial profiling. Public interest increased when a photograph surfaced of the handcuffed Gates being escorted off his porch amid three officers, two white and one black.

Cambridge police moved to drop the disorderly conduct charge on Tuesday - without apology, but calling the case "regrettable."

That didn't end the national debate: Some said Gates was responsible for his own arrest because of his response to Crowley, while others said Gates was justified to yell at the officer.

President Obama, in response to a question at a nationally televised news conference on Wednesday, said that Cambridge police had "acted stupidly" in arresting Gates at his home. Mr. Obama, who attended Harvard Law School, is a friend of Gates.

It was a measure of the nation's keen sensitivities on matters of race that the fallout from the remarks of America's first black president about the incident mushroomed to such an extent that Mr. Obama felt compelled to make a surprise appearance in the White House briefing room Friday to try to put the matter to rest. The blowup had dominated national attention just as Mr. Obama was trying to build public pressure to get Congress to push through health care overhaul legislation - and as polls showed growing doubts about his performance.

The president did not back down from his contention that police had overreacted by arresting the Harvard professor for disorderly conduct after coming to his home to investigate a possible break-in. He added, though, that he thought Gates, too, had overreacted to the police who questioned him.

"This has been ratcheting up, and I obviously helped to contribute ratcheting it up," President Obama said of the racial controversy. "I want to make clear that in my choice of words, I think I unfortunately gave an impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department and Sgt. Crowley specifically. And I could've calibrated those words differently."

The president said he had spoken to Crowley and Gates during separate telephone calls and declared that Crowley is "an outstanding police officer and a good man." He invited the officer and the professor to the White House for a beer.

A trio of Massachusetts police unions released a joint statement shortly after Mr. Obama's latest comments, saying Crowley had a friendly and meaningful conversation with the president.

"We appreciate his sincere interest and willingness to reconsider his remarks about the Cambridge Police Department," the unions said in their statement. "It is clear to us from this conversation, that the President respects police officers and the often difficult and dangerous situations we face on a daily basis."

Gates added that he hoped his arrest would lead to a greater understanding about racial profiling in America.

"If my experience leads to the lessening of the occurrence of racial profiling, then I would find that enormously gratifying," Gates said on The Root. "Because, in the end, this is not about me at all; it is about the creation of a society in which 'equal justice before law' is a lived reality."


Cambridge residents are sick of the controversy and say it's time to move on, too. Watch the video from CBS Station WBZ below.

Local Video from WBZ in Boston

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[Joe_NY_15]

The Racist Gates thought he would play the race card on a typical white police officer, and it back-fired right in his face, and he has been exposed as a race-baiter......of course he wants to "move on" quickly...Gates and Obama were both way off base and Obama exposed his bias toward a black man pretending racism occurred when it didn't, instead of backing the law officers first.

[TPS2]

by mcv57 July 26, 2009 1:22 AM EDT
I agree this is stupid. Too bad the Southern White Society had to drag the whole country into Civil War over racism and slavery

You must be filled with pain and anguish from having to live through such a traumatic experience like the Civil War.

[Joe_NY_15]

mcv57 / skyk, were apparently raped by a civil war confederate soldier, hence their absolute hatred for anything southern, he even hates to look down, because it's south to him.....LOL

[erasmus111]

by darthcheney072109 July 26, 2009 2:15 PM EDT
I'm surprised they haven't bashed in your door and arrested you yet.
---------------

They haven't because they know there's an army waiting behind that door with me.


You mean your kids are packin' too?

[Beyond-The-Spectrum]

In reality, the only "truth" that matters is perspective. Just like men & women view the world differently, so too do blacks and whites with regards to the police. Historically-speaking, whites generally view the police as professional public servants, while blacks view them in regards to Amadou Diallo, Abner Louima, Oscar Grant, & Rodney King.

http://beyond-the-political-spectrum.blogspot.com/

[amateurradio]

Another thing. Gates has gotten away with a crime. That REALITY is that he WAS disturbing the peace. He got away with a criminal offense by crying race - falsely. He needs to be FIRED NOW - and charged with defamation of character - and the Kenyan Socialist Usurper also needs to be charged with defamation and slander. It is time that we END this nonsense of allowing people to get away with criminal behavior by yelling race. In fact - it is time that we TRIPLE the penalties if that is done.

[amateurradio]

The FACT is that the facts of the case are coming out. Gates is a wild-eyed racist who made false and defamatory accusations. The Kenyan Socialist Usurper made STUPID comments defaming the police officer and his department. The officer quietly and calmly pointed out that he did EXACTLY what he is supposed to do. The officers present backed that - and his department backed him. The problem is that a race pimp (Gates) tried to throw the race card and the FACTS blew up in his face. The Kenyan Socialist Usurper tried to throw a race card and it blew up in HIS face as well. Gates should lose his job - as he is now a proven liar. The Kenyan Socialist Usurper does not legally or legitimately hold any officer - so he should simply be thrown out. Thanks to the fine officer who did his job and stood firm.

[nword-bk-power]

All this is, is white trash telling stories of what they want to hear! The reason that white trash had Slaves, is because other Good Black People sold them to this white trash! No, white trash took Slaves "Good Black People" and made them hunt down other Good Black People for white trash Slaves!!

[creeper00]

So...the good ole boys are going to resolve this over a beer. Really high-class presentation there, Barry. Couldn't you at least spring for lunch?

[rocketjl]

Police have no choice, but to approach all suspects with caution. Once the identity and status of a person is validated, the situation should mellow out. However, when a person being questioned by the police goes out of control, regardless of sex, race, or financial position, 'we want' the police to regain control of the situation. At least all the neighbors now know how Gates will react if they ever get involved with him in a difficult situation. My choice seems to be between too many dead police officers and too many black racist college professors. Mt choice is clear.

[beaumuff]

Last I heard Biden "the sherriff" is mad at him for taking his job of inserting foot in mouth. Thats Joes job and he is darn good at it. What a joke of a administration. Biden, Turbo Timmy the wolf gaurding the hen house, Clinstone, and the rest of the tax cheats that resigned.