On Henry Louis Gates Jr and Cambridge, MAMany people have said what has needed to be said about the incident, Margery Eagan does it best (also The Distributed Republic brings up a good point), but one thing has gone unsaid, which I think bears saying: Apparently, Henry Louis Gates Jr doesn’t know his neighbors. Or put differently, his neighbors don’t know him. Isn’t that incredible? His own neighbor, upon seeing him attempting to enter his house, didn’t offer to call him a locksmith or something, or offer his house as a place to hang out while he waited for family to come home and open the house. No, they called the police, because they didn’t recognize who it was that lived on their street. Living in a town that borders Cambridge, I find this not at all surprising. In many ways, Cambridge is the epitome of modern, professional America. People don’t know each other one iota, are afraid to speak to each other directly, preferring to speak out loud past each other in a passive aggressive manner as if to drop hints. All the while everyone has covered their lawns and cars with Obama paraphernalia, voting to expand the government to help the community at every chance they get, a community that in reality they aren’t really a part of, one that arguably doesn’t even exist. I feel sorry for Gates. Not because he got arrested or locked out of his house. But because he has no community. UPDATE: Good roundup of the issues involved here (via balko). Tags: Arrest, Henry Louis Gates Jr, Margery Eagan |
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3 Responses to “On Henry Louis Gates Jr and Cambridge, MA”
July 23rd, 2009 at 4:01 pm
And that is why my wife and I moved out of Boston 5 years ago! I now live in Albany, NY and literally know everyone by their first name (and their kids) on my street.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:19 am
Nice work Barack… with one comment you managed to alienate 75% of America.
And anyone who has spent any amount of time in the “higher” education system knows the Professor Gates type: bitter, spiteful, bigoted racist with a position of power who felt emboldened to make a political statement.
This is the type of Professor who would change the subject on you when you attempt to engage in a debate- or would give you a poor grade because you actually have an opinion, and done research outside of marxist texts and such. You are fooling no one, Mr Gates.
And Mr President, is this “nuance” you’ve spoke of? “the police acted stupidly”? -please
Obama is out to rip this country to shreds in EVERY way- who can question that such ill-advised statements are divisive… and NOT helpful? He has no idea what happened, he admitted it- and apparently doesn’t care, either… he’s picked his side.
But back in reality, the childish and paranoid Gates completely baited the cop, who acted with admirable restraint, IMO… all he had to do is show his ID and shut up, he was treated with respect. This guy was clearly looking for a fight… and he ought to thank God he didn’t find one.
Obama is going to destroy race relations in this country with his vengeful “get even” mentality… some messiah- Americans should have chosen a fair and sensible human being instead of this embittered nut.
July 24th, 2009 at 11:44 am
Isn’t Obama the genius that lumped Rush Limbaugh and Lou Dobbs together in the same sentence…what?
The Cambridge police comment was completely ingorant on his part, not impressed.
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