Who is the racist here?

Leonard Pitts is a columnist for the Miama Herald. In his column today he tries to convice you that Officer Crowley is a racist and that is why he arrested professor Gates The following is my email to him.


Good Evening,

I know how Professor Gates feels. I had a similar incident with two white officers. I too am in my late 50’s, bald and face full of age lines. I don’t nearly as fast as I did twenty years ago and I don’t imagine I pose to menacing of a figure.

Two white officers, a male and female, appeared at my front door wanting to know what was going on inside. They had received a 911 call that had been cut short. I told them that no one from my home had made the call but that didn’t satisfy the officers. The name and address appeared on the 911 operator’s screen. They were growing impatient with my denial.

I told them to wait and I would ask the other people in my house if any of them had done it. The door is spring-loaded and it started to close. They told me to keep the door open so that they could see and heard what was going on. I almost told them that there wasn’t any problem and closed the door but common sense prevailed. After convincing them that nothing was wrong, they left. This was my home and who were they to come uninvited and harass me at my front door?

Had I become loud and defensive, they would have thought that I was hiding something. Had I closed and locked the door they would have been sure of it. Instead, clearer heads prevailed.
Do you know anything about the dangers police officers face with every call to go to someone’s home because a crime may be in process? Do you know how many little old men and women have killed? Do you know what the official procedure is when someone is arrested. Do you know what the danger is to the arresting officer is if he or she doesn’t follow those procedures?

You wrote, "By definition, racism denies individuality and preconception leave us blind, making it possible for even a man who leads diversity training to look at a small, graying scholar and see a menace to society". If this is true, then isn’t it possible that Professor Gates is slightly racist? Isn’t is possible in his exhausted state (long trip) and frustration (stuck door and broken window) he saw not a police officer doing his job according to proper procedure but a racist cop. Then seeing a racist cop he opened his mouth and put his foot in it.

I am white. There is no doubt in my mind that had I given the officers a hard time and not assured them that nothing bad was happening inside, I too could have ended up cuffed (not shackled) and taken downtown until cooler heads prevailed.

By the way, I found out later that my granddaughter had been playing with the phone and dialed 911 and then hung up. The officers didn’t know when this bold old man opened the door, if it was a child playing with the phone or if I had just killed Grandma.