Political Intersection » Repost from Huffington Post: “Bud Lights & Civil Rights at the White House”

Repost from Huffington Post: “Bud Lights & Civil Rights at the White House”

July 30, 2009

Tags: Henry Louis Gates, officer James Crowley, President Obama, The White House

: White House Beer Summit

This afternoon all eyes will be on the president of the United States and the South Lawn of the White House.

No, the president of France is not coming to visit, nor the chancellor of Germany. There is no grand state dinner being prepared for hundreds of guests to greet Queen Elizabeth the II. This evening’s guests are two regular citizens: one Sgt. James Crowley and one Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The host: President Barack H. Obama.

Hmmmm? I have to pinch myself is this for real?

We are in the midst of an economic crisis — growing unemployment — high taxes — two wars in the Middle East — a failed heath care system (albeit still the best in the world) — and on and on. I am thinking that my president simply has better things to do with his time, then host two men who could just “not get along” up in Cambridge Mass last week. I know the president seemingly stepped in it last week when asked at the presser what he thought about the Gates arrest, but he modified his remarks last Friday and that should have been it — over — finito.

I have been very vocal in my op-eds for NPR, TheRoot.com, and on my media appearances on CNN and MSNBC last weekend about how I feel this incident took place and how it is playing across America. I still believe that based on the police report and now the 9-11 tapes that have been released that race was a subtext of why Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his home after having to break into his own home, and showing proper ID to the officer as requested.

For me this is a civil liberties issue that cannot and should not be glossed over by a cold brewsky at the White House. I don’t want the police entering my home without my express permission, ever. Unless, of course they are responding to an alarm that has gone off at 3am (which happened to me last summer), or if they are responding to a medical emergency. A man’s home is his castle. We can all agree that Professor Gates responded in the wrong way when he talked about the officer’s “Mama” and started shouting about being a “black man.” But, has anyone ever asked why Gates responded in this way? Gates has said that he “feared for his safety as a black man.” We have to allow him to feel how he feels and keep that in context.

Likewise, officer Crowley says he was doing his job and simply wanted to go home to his wife and kids. That is a good thing. However, the officer notes in his own report that he believed Gates to be “lawfully in the home” but was “taken aback” by Gates conduct and attitude toward him. It seems to me that both men playing on their worst racial fears, feared one another. The officer saw an unruly, angry black man and Gates saw a racist cop who entered his home uninvited. Both points of view must be validated as being reasonable based on the stereotypes we all have about black men and cops in America. That is where the true discussion should begin.

It is my hope that the president truly has a dialogue with both men that gets them talking about how our unconscious biases and prejudices cloud our day to day judgments and responses. It is my hope that they don’t just share a “Beer” and sweep this whole mess under the carpet. We will have to wait and see but I for one am very curious to see how this all plays out. Stay tuned America, as we learn more about the Bud Lights & Civil Rights that will be discussed at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue this evening.

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