More on Gates-gate

By Jennifer J. Foster

I hope you had a chance to read my latest column, “What we can learn from Gates-gate.“ If not, you can catch up here.

I thought it might be a good idea to post some links to a couple of things I read while researching for that column.

First, here’s a link to the CNN story that ran about the so-called “Suds Summit.“ You might remember that in the column, I complained about the media’s coverage of the event. Here’s an example of what I was talking about, from the CNN story:

The president was drinking Bud Light, Biden was drinking Buckler (a nonalcoholic beer), Gates was drinking Samuel Adams Light and Crowley was drinking Blue Moon.

Now, as an incisive journalist, myself, I have a very important question of my own: WHO CARES???

I didn’t have room to write this in the column, but during the lead-in to the event, CNN anchor Wolf Blitzer actually used the phrase “Red, Light and Blue”—a cringe-worthy reference to the types of beer that were reported to be each man’s favorite: Red Stripe, Bud Light and Blue Moon.

Good grief. Wolf, I am embarrassed for you.

I also want to point out this nugget from the end of that story:

Meanwhile, a black Cambridge police sergeant on the scene the day of Gates’ arrest wrote a letter to Crowley, asking him to mention to Gates and Obama that he is now known as the “black sergeant” and to some others as an “uncle Tom.“

“I’m forced to ponder the notion that as a result of speaking the truth and coming to the defense of a friend and colleague, who just happens to be white, that I have somehow betrayed my heritage,“ Sgt. Leon Lashley wrote. “Please convey my concerns to the president that Mr. Gates’ actions may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world.“

Lashley wrote in the letter he would like Gates to reflect on the incident and ask himself what responsibility he bears, what he can do to heal the rift and what he can do to mitigate the damage done to the officers’ reputations.

Did you get that? A black police sergeant. On the scene on the day of the Gates arrest. Wanted his colleague to tell the president that Gates —not Crowley, but Gates—had acted in a way that “may have caused grave and potentially irreparable harm to the struggle for racial harmony in this country and perhaps throughout the world.“

Interesting, isn’t it?

And then there’s this Boston Herald article, which explores Crowley’s experience teaching classes on avoiding racial profiling and his reputation among black colleagues.

(Crowley’s) academy class, which he teaches with a black police officer, instructs about 60 police cadets per year who spend 12 hours in the classroom, said Lowell Police Academy Director Thomas Fleming.

“He’s a very professional police officer and he’s a good role model,” Fleming said. “Former police commissioner Ronny Watson, who is a person of color, hand-picked Sgt. Crowley. ... I presume because he would be the most qualified and most professional. He’s a very good instructor. He gets very high reviews by the students.”

Watson, who is black, is the former Cambridge police commissioner.

So there you have it. Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley: Not a racist. Not a racial profiler.

... Racial reactionaries notwithstanding.