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As surely as the sun rises in the east, comes another charge of racism against the police by those who seem to have no fear of criminals. We all know the cycle: an arrest; a controversy; fiery accusations of racism; the talk-show rounds by the usual race-baiting suspects; and an abject apology by the chief of police. Then everyone goes home none the worse or better for the experience save for the poor patrolman whose life and career are ruined.
This week our media are vigorously attempting to fan the flames of yet another bogus charge of racism because it involves a friend of no less than the President of the United States. Mr. Obama was so incensed that he saw fit to mention the event, with anger, in a press conference.
Big surprise ensuing: this time, we aren't at all following the customary story arc to which we have become accustomed. Rarely do you find a white policeman with as sterling a record as a non-racist: the online news site Boston.com reports that Sgt. James Crowley a few years back desperately tried to save the life of Reggie Lewis, a black basketball player who died of a heart attack while practicing. Sgt. Crowley is respected and honored by his black fellow-officers, black superiors, black neighbors, and yes, even local black community organizers.
Yet America's race-baiters don't let mere facts stand in the way of furthering their agenda:
Yesterday, as President Obama condemned the Cambridge Police Department during a prime-time White House news conference and Crowley steadfastly refused to issue the apology that Gates has sought, a fuller picture began to emerge of the 42-year-old sergeant who arrested the Harvard scholar last week on a charge of disorderly conduct on the porch of Gates's Cambridge house.
Sgt. Crowley performed above and beyond the call of duty, though unsuccessfully, in an all-out attempt to save the life of a black man. He was honored for his efforts at the time. No KKKer is going to spend 15 minutes doing mouth-to-mouth on a dying "member of an inferior race;" yet Crowley did, with dozens of witnesses awestruck at his dedication and singleminded humanity.
What, then, of the black man whom he arrested, Harvard "Professor" Henry Gates? As a professor at one of America's leading universities, he would seem to be above reproach.
Quite the contrary: "Prof." Gates is a creature of our national fixation on race relations. Although Boston.com says that he is regarded as one of the "foremost scholars on race in America," this incident reveals him as just another race-baiting scam artist.
"Prof." Gates owes his academic stature to the politically-correct creation of bogus black "studies" departments in universities all over America. His happens to be at Harvard University, which is as politically correct as any.
In today's far-left politically correct academy, the key job requirement of a black studies professorship is fervent belief in the idea that every single bad thing that ever happens to any black person is the fault of Whitey. This is not a healthy worldview, and certainly not an accurate one.
The problem with viewing all white people with an accusatory eye is not just a penchant for disseminating lies and slander masquerading as scholarship; it also has very observable consequences in the real world we live in every day. This incident provides a crystal-clear illustration of exactly how.
When Gates arrived at home after a trip to China, he and his driver had to push open his front door, which was stuck. This looked like a break-in to neighbors; they called the police.
Crowley arrived and demanded that Gates, now inside, show him identification.
Consider this situation for a moment. If a neighbor saw two bedraggled-looking people trying to bash in the door of your house, wouldn't you want them to call the police? As it happened, Mr. Gates' appearance had a perfectly innocent explanation: he'd just got off a 14-hour plane trip. He was bashing in his own door, he said, because the lock was broken and the door jammed - which he has every right to do - but neither the neighbor nor the police could possibly know that. That's why you send a cop to investigate, as the officer proceeded to do.
At this point, any individual with the brains that God gave geese would be grateful for the diligence of the local gendarmerie, explain himself with an embarrassed chuckle, and present identification. Remember, Mr. Gates just got off an international flight; his passport couldn't have been any further away than his pocket.
But no! According to the official police report:
As I [Sgt. Crowley, in full uniform] stood in plain view of [Gates]... I asked if he would step out on the porch and speak with me. He replied, "No, I will not." ... Gates opened the front door and exclaimed, "Why, because I'm a black man in America?" I then asked Gates if there was anyone else in the house. While yelling, he told me it was none of my business and accused me of being a racist police officer.
There's certainly racist actions on the part of the Cambridge police: it was unquestionably a racist action for the Cambridge cops to drop charges against the professor when they had ample witnesses to his conduct - not just the officer, but backups from two other departments who arrived as reinforcements and a small crowd of civilians who stopped to watch. A white man making a similar scene wouldn't have gotten off so easily.
Mr. Gates, though, is no ordinary civilian. This is a man who makes a living writing about racism. He'll go out of business unless he can find enough racism to write about.
Being accosted by the local police in his very own house must have seemed like too good an opportunity to pass up, particularly since he's a friend of President Barack Hussein Obama. Sure enough, Mr. Obama chimed in, accusing the Cambridge Police of racism even though he admitted he didn't have all the facts.
For years and years, any white person who was accused of racism was convicted on the spot regardless of the facts. Black grafters like Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson expect white people to roll over and play dead when they play the "racism" card.
It's what they've learned to expect; Mr. Gates and, for that matter, Mr. Obama are no different. Remember how quickly Bill Clinton rolled over when Mr. Obama accused him of playing the race card in Carolina during the campaign?
This time, shock of all shocks, the white policeman is pushing back. What's more, he's not alone.
But people who know Crowley were skeptical or outright dismissive of allegations of racism. A prominent defense lawyer, a neighbor of Crowley's, his union, and fellow officers described him yesterday as a respected, and respectful, officer who performs his job well and has led his colleagues in diversity training.
People have been reading the police report and saying that Gates is in the wrong. Witnesses are confirming the cop's story and pointing out that Gates used vulgar language.
A photograph has surfaced clearly showing him addressing the police in, let's say, a non-academic manner. Bill Cosby, no less, said he was shocked that the President would speak about something this incendiary when he doesn't have the facts.
Officer Crowley has about as solid a not-racist credential as a white cop can have. Having been selected for the job by a black police commissioner, he teaches racial profiling awareness in his district. He has been endorsed by other black cops in the area.
He went above and beyond the call of duty trying to save the life of a black sports star. If any white can be a saintly-pure non-racist - a concept Mr. Gates probably wouldn't accept, actually - it is Sgt. Crowley. It seems that he is fully justified in refusing to back down or apologize, saying everything he did was 100% correct both legally and morally - because it was.
Meanwhile, racism bestirs itself in Holland. Fox News reports:
The descendants of an African chief who was hanged and decapitated by a Dutch general 171 years ago reluctantly accepted the return of his severed head Thursday, still angry even as the Dutch tried to right a historic wrong. [emphasis added]
The head of King Badu Bonsu II was discovered last year in a jar of formaldehyde gathering dust in the anatomical collection of the Leiden University Medical Center. The Dutch government agreed to Ghanaian demands that the relic be returned.
This story starts out like a standard account of early colonial oppression, but there are some subtle details:
The head was taken by Maj. Gen. Jan Verveer in 1838 in retaliation for Bonsu's killing of two Dutch emissaries, whose heads were displayed as trophies on Bonsu's throne, said Arthur Japin, a Dutch author who discovered the king's head when he was working on a historical novel.
The elders demanded the Dutch government provide aid to their tribe to appease the slain chief. [emphasis added]
The Dutch send ambassadors to King Bonsu, he chops their heads off and puts them on his throne as trophies. Some might consider this to have been murder, if not an act of war, and might think that it would be appropriate for the General to hang the king for murder.
Alas, though the heads may be shrunken, their skin color still remains: such inconvenient truths are politically incorrect. Ignoring the fact that their ancestor murdered and decapitated not one but two Dutch diplomats, the king's descendants want the government of the Netherlands to "provide aid to their tribe."
They want money! What a surprise! This sounds exactly like the demands we've been hearing from Sharpton, Jackson, and all the other racist scam artists down through the decades.
Let's hope that Officer Crowley sticks to his guns and that the Dutch content themselves with returning the head. Perhaps they should send the elders the embalming bill, as many prisons do for executed murderers?
Meanwhile, what should the Cambridge police do to show they aren't racist and that we have equal justice in this nation? Re-arrest "Prof" Gates and put him in jail for resisting arrest and disorderly conduct as they would have done with a white person under similar circumstances.
What happened to "equal justice under the law?" When Mr. Daschle withdrew his nomination to the cabinet because he hadn't bothered to pay his income taxes, President Obama said:
I've got to own up to my mistake, which is that ultimately it's important for this administration to send a message that there aren't two sets of rules. You know, one for prominent people and one for ordinary folks who have to pay their taxes. [emphasis added]
- President Barack Hussein Obama, New York Times quote of the day, Feb 4, 2009
Mr. Obama needs to read his own speeches and own up to his mistake. Having said there aren't two sets of rules, he not only nominates a racist, sexist Latina for the Supreme Court because of her "empathy," he calls a professional policeman who arrested a citizen for disorderly conduct "stupid."
As Obama said, there aren't two sets of rules. He clearly seems to believe that there are many sets of rules - one for Democrat tax cheats, another for Republicans like Leona Helmsley who went to jail for tax evasion. There's one set of laws for white folks who get in trouble for disorderly conduct and another for black "scholars" who happen to be friends of the President. One set of rules for Republicans who get caught with their pants down and are howled from office, and another for Democrats like Ted Kennedy and Bill Clinton whose legendary escapades go on for decades with no permanent political price extracted.
Mr. Obama needs to realize that this sort of thing demeans the office of the presidency and devastates the rule of law that keeps us all prosperous and safe. We elected him to be Commander in Chief, not Racist in Chief. We'll soon know which role he prefers.