A long time ago I was an editor on my high school newspaper and everything was going well until I went AWOL.
I disappeared for a few days (it may have been longer, after all these years I’m not sure) to make a few bucks working for a real newspaper that paid real money. When I nonchalantly strolled back into the school newspaper office after who knows how long, Mrs. Oshman, the paper’s faculty advisor, read me the riot act. She was furious. How in the world, she demanded to know, could I disappear when we had a paper to put out?
Instead of just taking it and saying, “Sorry, it won’t happen again,” I lashed out at her with the same fury she had just aimed at me. “I was working to make some money,” I told her, “because if I need a shirt, I need money.”
In retrospect, it’s as clear as can be: She was right and I was wrong. But that’s not how I saw it at the time. To Mrs. Oshman, this was about my absence from the school newspaper. To me, it was about something else entirely.
Back then, I couldn’t spell “introspective” and had as much interest in examining my inner self as your typical dummy in high school. But looking back, I’m pretty sure I know what my outburst was about. My family and I had just moved from a tenement in the Bronx to a house in the suburbs in New Jersey. I had never lived in a house before. We had a lawn and a big pine tree. Technically, we had only moved maybe 15 miles, but it felt like we were in a different galaxy. And now I was going to a new, clean high school instead of the gang-infested dump I would have attended in the Bronx had we stayed.
Mrs. Oshman didn’t understand me – or my kind, at some deep level I must have figured. She didn’t know people like me, kids who grew up in lower middle class rough neighborhoods. I needed a few bucks so I skipped out on my responsibility as an editor. If she didn’t like it, that was her problem.
Except it wasn’t. She had every right to question my dedication to the school paper. She had no way of knowing that when I moved from the Bronx I brought a lot of baggage with me. How could she know? I didn’t know! So we wound up being players in the same scene, hearing different things and speaking different languages.
Fade to black and come up in Cambridge, Massachusetts in the house of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr.
By know we all know the story: Gates had just come home from China, he couldn’t get into his house, so he tried jimmying the door. A neighbor thought he was a burglar and called the police. A Sgt. James Crowley showed up. Crowley, who is white, asked Gates, who is black, for identification. Gates bristled. The way he saw it he was being hassled simply because of the color of his skin. When Crowley asked him to step outside, Gates reportedly said (though he denies it), “Ya, I’ll speak with your mama outside.” Asked by the police officer to calm down, he wouldn’t. The situation got out of hand, and Gates, the internationally respected scholar, wound up in handcuffs, arrested for disorderly conduct (a charge that was later dropped).
Forgive the grand comparison, but this was Mrs Oshman and me all over again, this time writ large. By all accounts, Sgt. Crowley (Mrs. Oshman) is a good cop who was just doing his job. Gates (me) was the one who got unruly. That will happen when you’re carrying a lot of baggage. You see things that aren’t really there.
The idea that a white cop would confuse him with a burglar, in his own house no less - just because he’s black – was too much for Gates, even though there’s no evidence Crowley jumped to that conclusion. I’m betting that Professor Gates wasn’t simply responding to the white cop standing in front of him. He was responding, I think, to every white cop – no, make that every white person — who had ever hassled a black man in the entire history of the United States of America.
A few days later, Gates was quoted as saying, “I don’t stereotype. I never saw him as the head of the Ku Klux Klan.” Could be, but I’m not so sure. White people don’t have a monopoly on stereotyping. But since we don’t know for sure, let’s at least agree on this much: Henry Louis Gates Jr. is not a burglar just because he’s black. But Sgt. James Crowley is not Bull Conner just because he’s white. And race is the wound that continues to fester.
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The following was sent to me in a email from a friend in Idaho… I have never been one to forward emails but in this case, I’m asking for your help. Please copy and paste this and send to everyone on your email lists..
Professor Joseph Olson of Hemline University School of Law, St. Paul , Minnesota , points out some interesting facts concerning the Presidential election:•
Number of States won by: Democrats: 19 Republicans: 29
• Square miles of land won by: Democrats: 580,000 Republicans: 2,427,000
• Population of counties won by: Democrats: 127 million Republicans: 143 million • Murder rate per 100,000 residents in counties won by: Democrats: 13.2 Republicans: 2.1
Professor Olson adds: “In aggregate, the map of the territory Republican won was mostly the land owned by the taxpaying citizens of the country. Democrat territory mostly encompassed those citizens living in government-owned tenements and living off various forms of government welfare…”
Olson believes the United States is now somewhere between the “complacency and apathy” phase of Professor Tyler’s definition of democracy, with some forty percent of the nation’s population already having reached the “governmental dependency” phase.
If Congress grants amnesty and citizenship to twenty million criminal invaders called illegals and they vote, then we can say goodbye to the USA in fewer than five years If you are in favor of this, then by all means, delete this message.
If you are not, then pass this along to help everyone realize just how much is at stake, knowing that apathy is the greatest danger to our freedom.
As an investigator for several U.S.Gov’t. agencies for the past 50+ years, I have done thousands of background checks on prospective gov’t. employees and others who need security clearances. ALL have had to submit a signed release form with their application for me to obtain, among other things, their educational records.
The question arises…why won’t Pres. Obama let us see these records?? People usually like to hide their scholastic records for obvious reasons; poor grades or reports of bad conduct. But his grades apparently were good, and if not, who cares? He has already admitted to drug use, and if he did something else, it wasn’t enough to get him expelled, so again, who cares?
My theory……to get into a prestigious university, he needed a leg up. He had affirmative action, but so did many others. How about a scholarship for FOREIGN students? He father was Kenyan, so he might have lied and said that he was born there. Years later, when he realizes he has a shot at the presidency, he also realizes that this little white lie can come back and bite him in the ass. Yes, he was born in Hawaii, but this would give the “birthers” (who came up with that awful designation?) all the ammunition they need. So he’s up against the law of unintended consequences.
To remove him from office would be disastrous in many ways, the worst being Pres. Biden ,and Pelosi being one step closer to the Oval Office!!!
I sent this “theory” to friends and relatives several months ago. The conservatives thought it had merit, but the liberals either had no comment, or brushed it off with comments like “……check it out on snopes” or “…maybe he was born on Krypton”
Even born in Hawaii, he needed two parents who were both U.S. Citizens AT THE TIME OF HIS BIRTH and legally domicled in the U.S. for a period of years (according to laws at that time) to BE a NATURAL-BORN citizen At Birth. With just one parent, his mother, being a U.S. Citizen and a father who was NEVER a U.S. Citizen, but a Kenyan Citizen- and one who never legally resided here, the most Obama could be AT BIRTH was a DUAL CITIZEN. What drives me crazy is that Obama has admitted as much (on his OWN FightTheSmears website). Nothing else matters. The only reason for showing his authentic birth certificate would be to shut the “birthers” up & provide cover for the real issue that renders him ineligible.
And check the Constitutional claus right after the one that everyone quotes regarding eligibility: Article 2, Section 1, Clause 6. This stipulates the proceedures should the current president be “disabled” by being found to be ineligible. The line of succession would pass the office of president down until someone not “disabled” was found. Since the whole Democrat party is guilty of their ultimate responsibility to THOROUGHLY VET their candidates for POTUS, a new election would have to be held. That means “erase, erase” all of Obama’s actions, programs, policies, bailouts, gov’t takeovers, etc.
With Biden, Pelosi, Reid & even the ol’ Byrd “off the table” for president, I bet a lot more people might jump on the Obama=Usurper bandwagon.
No matter what, he may be a citizen or even a “native-born” citizen- but he CAN’T EVER be Natural-born AT BIRTH. You either are or you’re not- AT BIRTH, and he was not by virtue of his own admission of being a Dual Citizen At Birth (”governed by the British Nationality Act of 1948″ due to his father’s Kenyan/British citizenship.
more than just a “native born citizen” or a “citizen”-
If he were removed from office due to citizenship, that would render his campaign fraudulent. That would mean that Biden couldn’t become President as a result, as his campaign for Veep would be fraudulent by default. God only knows what would happen.
Good analogy and bad analogy.
Yes, there was some culture clash. Especially on the part of Professor Gates. Much like you and your teacher. There is no doubt that is a contributing factor.
But that is where it stops working.
By all accounts, Professor Gates demonstrated a hostile and possibly combative attitude toward the Sgt. Crowley. Officer safety dictates that you separate all unknown subjects from potential weapons and places that may conceal weapons. This is especially true when dealing with an agitated subject.
That brought about the request to chat with the Professor outside on the porch. The number of officers hurt or killed at the front door of location they were called to is fairly high.
That is not just officer safety either. That is also for the safety of Professor Gates. The situation was already tense. Think about the possibilities had Gates made a sudden grab for a raincoat or spilling mail under those circumstances.
In addition to that, the police officer was responding to a burglary in progress call. The police officer’s first thought is going to be to remove the homeowner from a potential burglar still inside the house.
I wasn’t there. But from everything I read, Sgt. Crowley responded by the book. We’ll see how this plays out.
It was just a pissing contest between two hyper-inflated egos. Gates should have been a bit less confrontational, but once Crowley had seen proof that G belonged there, he had a duty to leave the premises. A good cop should not allow verbal comments to affect his judgement of what constitutes a crime. At the point of arrest, Cambridge police were tresspassing on the private property of a citizen who had asked them to leave. C’mon, I thought you believed in law & order…
I think you give Gates too much credit. As another commented; he is not a teenager, he is a supposedly wise university professor. Judging from the excerpts of video tape and audio from Gates, he is just another in the line of radicals we have seen in the realm of Obama’s friends and mentors.
i agree. i held off saying, my excuse was that i was a dumb kid. what’s his?
As my wife would say to me, “who is the grownup here?”. I wonder why Mr. Gates can’t control his emotions and why Sgt. Crowley had to make an arrest instead of just walking away. Aren’t both men grownups here?
Bernie, you wouldn’t react the way you did today, would you?
You’re all grown up and mature.
Gates needs to grow up and mature.
He should thank God there is a cop (many, many) like Sgt. Crowley who is willing to put his life on the line everyday to protect all of us, regardless of color or in Gates case, elitist stupidity.
Your scenario may be the reason, it’s no excuse. NO excuse!
The president wants to put a positive spin on this whole incident by making it a “teachable moment”. I hope the lesson learned will be that Blacks are too quick to play the race card.
Bernie, great commentary. I can think of similar circumstances in my life as well. It is unfortunate that after so many years, this racial tension still exists. For all the people who speak out for healing and forgiveness, it seems there are that many more who want to keep things stirred up (Rev Wright comes to mind!) In response to the comments above, interesting take on the “beer invitation” angle, especially since I have already heard the Prof doesn’t drink beer (allegedly). As for adding “officer” to the Presidential Resume –
– par for the course with this ego and incessant need for attention and being “the cool guy” (at least in some minds) 
“He was responding, I think, to….every white person — who had ever hassled a black man in the entire history of the United States of America.”
Interesting – and believable analysis – could this perhaps shed some light on our president’s action/reaction as well? But then, what about the people who advise him on what to say and when? Was it all calculated? Or not?
As always, thanks for the food for thought Mr. G.
Hello Bernie:Please help me understand why the anyone in the media has not picked up on the fact that the president made another unfornate comment,yes another unfornate comment.Tha comment being the fact that he invited the 2 persons over for a beer.Now think about this comment for a minute,remember there was no telepromter in front of hime at the time of him saying such a comment.So here is my explanation regarding the beer comment.When the president invited the 2 professional individuals to the White House for a beer.Think what you would normally say for a sit down and proper conversation.You would not invite them for a beer,but rather for either lunch or a dinner.Being that the professor is a close and personal friend and probably with a higher taste then beer,he was making the beer offer to the police officer who in fact is white and to whom the president,might look like a red neck white cop.Now think of theis offer closely if this would have been an invitation solely for the professor,he would have probably offered him a brunch,lunch or a nice dinner,but being that he probably wants to make the officer comfortable he made the of the cuss comment of inviting them both for a BEER.
It is too bad there are not awards for policeman who do their jobs professionally while handling domestic issues. Most times it is the domestic calls that are the most dangerous and unpredictable and you must be ready for all situations. I am sure none expect to make the national news, let alone hear from our president. I am glad there are those individuals that step up to take on the task that most of us wouldn’t do.
Good analogy Mr. Goldberg.
Speaking of seeing things that are not there–remember the securty guard who “saw” a frail elderly man at the holocaust museum and then went to hold open the door for him? Remember him? Obviously the president didn’t as evidenced by his comment about it not being necessary to handcuff a middle aged man with a cane. Did I miss the Officer Obama portion of the presidents resume?
This is one of those cases in which things would have turned out better had everyone just calmed down for a few seconds. Gates should have figured, “Okay, I’m well-known, but there are probably many people in town who don’t know who I am or don’t know that I own this house, and it DOES look sorta suspicious that I’m trying to get in with brute force, rather than a key. There are many times in which whites point suspiciously at blacks just because of race, but I’ll show this dude my ID, just in case.”
“Race is the wound that continues to fester”……………
and fester…………….and fester and will, I think, never heal.
Enjoy your appearances on O’Reilly, and I have read all your books except “Slobbering”. I simply cannot read any more about our “Trojan Horse” health care president!
Please do not give up your intelligent, journalistic input into the insane P.C. of what passes for journalism today.
Thanks, Bernie.