Has President Obama fallen off the racial tightrope to which he was assigned in order to win the Presidency and govern with volatile and reluctant white support? AP is citing polls indicating that after the Gates brouhaha, Obama's support among whites has dropped precipitously. Does a black president have to ‘know his place?’
Obama's comment that a white police officer acted stupidly in arresting a black scholar in his own home for disorderly conduct is being widely portrayed in the media as an attack on the white race. Obama is now a racist for openly taking the side of a man who belongs to a racial grouping that has historically suffered tremendously from false arrests, imprisonments and state sanctioned death sentences. Judging by the number of veiled and overt racist attacks coming from his opponents and critics, it is clear that they view race as his Achilles heel, and perhaps their only hope of bringing him to his political knees after George Bush’s tragic presidency.
For me, the pressing issue regarding this case is that two men had a face off in which one had the power of arrest and detention. The power balance between the two was radically unequal.
The police officer had greater responsibility to ensure that his power of arrest was used with discretion and in accordance with the rights of ordinary citizens. Arrests and incarcerations can destroy one's reputation and ability to survive and earn a living, particularly in this society.
Did this police officer have a right to enter Gates house without a search warrant? Was he justified in arresting an elderly man with a cane in his own home after he had proven that he was the owner, even if he was mouthing off? Clear guidelines exist which forbid officers from arresting anyone who is not behaving in a physically threatening manner. If Gates was not a renowned scholar, would the charges have been dropped so quickly or would he have been forced to obtain the services of an attorney at great financial cost and still be found guilty?
I think these questions should be answered for all of our sakes - black or white. God forbid that one of us should find ourselves in a similar situation. Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.