Obama, the cop and the professor

By now many people will have followed this case. The Times has a good summary of where it is at:

Crowley had been sent to the house after a neighbour noticed two black men attempting to break through the front door.

Gates had returned from a trip to China to discover the door was jammed, so he broke into his home with the help of his taxi driver.

Crowley is the white police officer and Gates the black Harvard Professor.

One can understand that Crowley had to investigate after being called by a neighbour. He was not just walking past. And Gates was not just loitering around, but actually breaking into a house – his own.

Exactly what transpired after Crowley arrived at the house with another officer and asked Gates to identify himself may never be known. Crowley claims Gates became agitated and abusive and ignored warnings to calm down.

Although tapes exist of Crowley's radio reports back to his station, it may take a media lawsuit to make them public; one police officer who knew the content of the tapes said Gates could be heard yelling at Crowley but it was not always clear what was being said.

For many African-Americans, Gates's subsequent arrest for disorderly conduct, a charge that was rapidly dropped, was an all-too-familiar tale.

It is possibly there is fault on both sides. I can understand that Gates could jump to a conclusion that he is being asked for ID beacuse he is black. Let us not pretend it has not happened in the past. However he would have been better to show ID, and calmly explain this is his house – he just lost his key. Crowley could radio in to check ownership and even help him gain entry. Also if Gates had asked why is he being asked for ID, Crowley could have explained the neighbours phoned in a complaint.

Having said that, if Crowley realised that Gates probably was the owner, it may have been wiser to just try and explain that as Gates has no keys, it is not unreasonable to ask for ID, and arresting him should be a last resort.

A lot of it may come down to what exactly Gates said to Crowley.

Then we have Obama foolishly jumping in. He is a friend of Gates, which would have been reason enough to say he won't comment.

The incident led to a rare breakdown of Obama's previously impressive political judgment. Having spent much of the past two years steering clear of racial controversy and nurturing an image of so-called “postracial” conciliation, the president plunged unexpectedly into the Gates affair.

He declared on , when it was still far from clear what had happened, that the Massachusetts police had “acted stupidly” by arresting Gates, whom Obama described as a personal friend.

Obama has since apologised to Crowley and invited him and Gates to the White House for a beer to settle differences. You see it emerges Crowley is no Mark Fuhrman:

It then emerged that Crowley, 42, knew a great deal about police treatment of black suspects – he had been hand-picked by his African-American chief of police to teach a local academy course on avoiding discrimination.

Obama's discomfort increased when Sergeant Leon Lashley, a black Cambridge officer who was at the scene, said he supported Crowley's actions “100%”.

Lashley added: “I was there. He did nothing wrong. There's nothing rogue about him. He was doing his job.”

So no wonder Obama apologised, especially after police union after police union criticised the President for his comments.

The whole area of racial profiling got me thinking over the last few days. How much do racial stereotypes affect us?

I sort of did a mental test with myself. I am one of those people who gets nervous walking home very late at night (as in after midnight) if I can hear or see the shadow of someone just behind me. Probably comes from being mugged a couple of times when younger. Anyway I try to subtly grab a look at who is behind me.

So I asked myself, if I am walking home at night and the person just behind me is of a darker hue (appears to be Maori/Polynesian) does that make me a bit more nervous?

The honest answer is yes – a bit. And this can be a rational reaction to the violent crime states (2008) that show violent offending to be 0.3% for Asians, 0.7% for Caucasians, 2.4% for Pacific people and 3.8% for Maori.

So I think to myself does that make a me a racist. And I then think well what if I know the person behind me and recognise them. Well in that case I become colour blind to their race as I know them as an individual. For example if Pita Sharples or Paula Bennett is walking behind me at night I'm not at all going to think they are going to mug me, as I know them.

But then I still think to myself – is it fair I apply a stereotype (even a true one) to my walking home fears? So I then ask what other stereotypes do I apply? So I ask myself what would make me more nervous – a male or female walking behind me. Definitely a male. Their violent offending rate is 2.2% to 0.5%. Likewise a 90 year old would make me less nervous than a 20 year old.

My subconscious reaction is not just based on demographics. A “darker skinned” person in a suit would cause me no subconscious worries (very few violent criminals wear suits) while scruffily dressed torn jeans caucasion would. So race or skin colour is actually quite a minor factor compared to gender, age, attire etc.

Now I hope no one is offended by what is an honest post on the things that flash through your mind as walking home with someone behind you.

Now I then consider what if police officers react the same way. Is it not possible that relying on stereotypes can become a self-fulfilling prophecy? If you think a certain group is more likely to commit crime, then you are more likely to them? I fully understand why racial profiling is not a desirable thing.

On the other hand I recall the prominent African-American leader who said after 9/11 that if he is on a plane and sees a Muslim get up and go to the bathroom, he gets nervous. I suspect that reaction has faded with time, but is that religious profiling.

And does anyone have a problem with the fact that one assumes you are safer if it is a woman walking behind you, rather than a man? This story in the Dom Post is a reminder not to assume!

I also then think aloud – if it is sort of ok to worry that the person behind you is more likely to mug you because of his or her ethnicity or gender, then is it okay to discriminate againt that ethnicity or gender with job applications? My answer is no – because when people apply for jobs you get to learn about them as an individual – their work history, there grades, their references etc. It is generally wrong to use “group information” when you have individual information in my .

So is it wrong for the Police to profile? Again I think it is. I think such profiling can be self-fulling. The Government should treat everyone equally.

However in the case of Gates and Crowley, it is not at all clear that there was any sort of profiling – and Obama jumped in on an assumption.

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