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Allen Johnson: I am not a criminal; I am taking a walk

Sunday, August 2, 2009

(Updated 3:00 am)

By Allen Johnson
Staff Writer

As I write these words it is still several hours before President Obama, Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley sit down for beers on the grounds of the White House.

Rarely has a gathering of three guys for brewskies at a backyard picnic table attracted so much attention. (Did I really need to know that the president prefers Bud Light?)

But the widely but not all that deeply reported arrest of Gates by Crowley at Gates' home in Cambridge has touched a nerve and even stolen headlines from a historic debate on the nation's troubled health care system.

Most curious are the wildly disparate public perceptions of the incident. In a Wall Street Journal poll, only 4 percent of African Americans blamed Gates for the fracas while 30 percent blamed Crowley. Among white respondents, 7 percent blamed Crowley, but 32 percent blamed Gates.

Maybe the context of our own experiences colors our viewpoints. Personally, I admire police officers. We expect so much of them -- as protectors, social workers, mediators -- and pay them so relatively little in return.

My encounters with police have been, by and large, positive. But I understand Gates' frustration at being arrested by Crowley at his own house for "disorderly conduct."

In the mid-1980s, as a newspaper editor in Winston-Salem, I was stopped three times by police for no apparent reason.

Once, while driving on Interstate 40, I was pulled by an officer, even though I was not speeding. He asked for my license and registration, which I produced immediately and respectfully.

The officer, who was white, peered into the car -- a still fairly new sports car -- and commented that it was a nice vehicle. He then asked me what I did for a living. "What does that have to do with anything?" I thought to myself.

But I didn't say that to him. I told him my occupation. He let me go, but never explained why he had stopped me in the first place.

The second time, a few months later, I was on foot, near my apartment in northwest Winston-Salem. I like to take a walk before bed, so I'd typically stroll along Reynolda Road, near Wake Forest University.

An officer, who happened to be white, pulled up in his cruiser and asked me where I lived. I told him.

He seemed satisfied and told me good night.

Two weeks later another officer stopped me during a walk.

He asked me where I lived.

"Over there," I told him, thinking, this was getting ridiculous. "I have my license if you want to see it."

Several months later an officer stopped me again.

Maybe I should be holding a sign, I thought, that says: "I Am Not a Criminal. I Am Taking a Walk. I Live Across the Street and Am Gainfully Employed. Thank You for Your Interest."

Again, those were not representative of all of my encounters with police. Nor are they indicative of many, more serious incidents that have occurred to others.

They are, in fact, insignificant by comparison: Men shot while reaching for their wallets or arrested for imaginary crimes or tortured while in custody.

That said, the incidents I recounted happened more than 20 years ago. Things have changed since then, right?

Well, yes. Greensboro has had three black police chiefs in that time span. The mayor is a black woman. Winston-Salem has seen its first black female police chief.

The chief of police in Cambridge, for whom Crowley works, is black. The president is black.

And no. Statistically, African Americans still are more likely to be stopped by police. That's a hard fact. A state-sponsored study in Illinois reveals that black and Hispanic motorists are more than twice as likely as white motorists to be subjected to searches by the police, even though white motorists are twice as likely to be found with contraband during searches.

The baggage those disparities and previous experiences may bring with them feed anger and can breed tension. I don't know if that fueled Gates' reaction. And I won't take sides on the incident. I was not there and the men's accounts differ significantly.

I suspect this was mostly a case of two men who are much smarter than they behaved falling victim to bad decisions on a bad day. But the discussion the episode sparked ought to go beyond the silliness of, say, Glenn Beck calling the president "a racist."

I, for one, am not interested in winning an argument.

I'm not interested in who can scream the loudest or shout the longest.

I am interested in a rational, earnest and constructive conversation about a difficult topic.

Beers, anyone?

What do you think?

18 comment(s)

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J Peterman Reality Tour

August 2, 2009 - 7:28 am EDT

Hurray Glenn Beck for standing up to racists and thier hidden political agendas! Glenn Beck for President!

dcolin

August 2, 2009 - 12:31 pm EDT

Beck is recovering Alcoholic.
I was going to say ex drunk but thought better.

Sawdust

August 3, 2009 - 6:22 am EDT

What does that have to do with the subject at hand?

dcolin

August 3, 2009 - 10:01 am EDT

"Glenn Beck calling the president "a racist."

swerdna

August 2, 2009 - 8:41 am EDT

"Statistically, African Americans still are more likely to be stopped by police."

Not really disputing you, but I think if you're looking at statistics anyway, perhaps your answer lies in the statistics regarding criminal activity broken down by race.

jeed

August 2, 2009 - 10:16 am EDT

If you read that entire paragraph, you realize he did just that - specifically in instances where "pullovers" of vehicles and contraband (illegal activity) are concerned. You either chose to ignore that, or you're trying to deflect in order to invalidate what's really happening in THIS situation.

swerdna

August 2, 2009 - 11:58 am EDT

Perhaps YOU need to read my statement. I said I didn't dispute what he said! Perhaps you misunderstood my intent? if so, let me clarify:

The point I am making is many people will talk about the number of blacks questioned by police and cry racial profiling. That may be the case sometimes, but I'm also saying that because statistics give reason to believe a larger number of blacks MAY be involved in criminal activity, they are probably stopped and questioned more often than whites. I'm NOT saying this is right or wrong, I'm just saying that statics, rather than racial profiling, probably influence the actions of law enforcement officials.

08Suez

August 2, 2009 - 7:04 pm EDT

Jeed here's the "entire paragraph" you refer to:

"And no. Statistically, African Americans still are more likely to be stopped by police. That's a hard fact. A state-sponsored study in Illinois reveals that black and Hispanic motorists are more than twice as likely as white motorists to be subjected to searches by the police, even though white motorists are twice as likely to be found with contraband during searches"

Notice the reference AJ uses to back up his "hard fact", "A state- sponsored study in Illinois", Now we all know that anything sponsored by the state of Illinois has got to be credible evidence....................Don't we?

Sawdust

August 3, 2009 - 6:27 am EDT

Surely you're not saying that the state of Illinois is run by crooked politicians. I was raised in Illinois, and can verify that Illinois politics has always been a cesspool of the lowest forms of life. No one succeeds in Illinois politics unless they play the game, and that includes a certain POTUS. Honest politicians don't make it in Illinois, never have.

countryboy

August 2, 2009 - 11:01 am EDT

According to the Supreme Court...appointed by the presidents you elected...a police officer can ask you anything, anytime, anywhere. That's the law...get over it or change it. You do not have to answer...but the majority of Americans are clueless as to their rights. Too busy having a beer with important people to study them. And thank you Mr. Johnson for not calling what happened to Mr. Gates racial profiling. You are the first and are to be commended. Those officers responded to a call for service. That negates any type of profiling. By the way, the Supreme Court has also ruled that police can "profile." It's a good study...look it up.

Dogwood

August 2, 2009 - 11:07 am EDT

A Meet the Press guest today commented "the most famous sit down in American history". I think I learned a man in a red and white stripped polo shirt in his own home was handcuffed lead to jail and union officers stand behind James Crow. The man did not have crack, no one in the house was there but him. He did not have anything but a stuck door. The summertime humidity off the Charles River swells doors. Common sense failed. A union officer having taught racial profiling in Lowell was offended when an innocent man did not snap to his attention and arrested him. Shame shame shame jerk. Racial profiling classes teach how to make a stop. Like Make sure to note that if the lights work the plate is legal and all stickers are current...fill in form with swerving. Then use big words like tumultuous (impresses magistrates). I have dated law officers and have no claim to fame except none of the officers I have ever known would ever arrest a man in his own home and make up a report to satisfy his own ego.

dcolin

August 2, 2009 - 12:28 pm EDT

In the end Gates got arrested for not showing appropriate respect for the officer.

Maybe Gates had some culpability. However arresting him was stupid. Absolutely!
Racist? I have no Idea. But absolutely stupid.

However I have done stupid things ( lots of them ) in my time. Made me feel better but still stupid.

Sawdust

August 3, 2009 - 6:31 am EDT

But the stupidest part of the whole affair was Obama commenting on it without knowing what happened. Kind of makes him look like a racist, in my eyes, siding with the black man before knowing any of the facts.

dcolin

August 3, 2009 - 9:57 am EDT

Certainly not wise.

However arresting him was stupid.

Dogwood

August 2, 2009 - 2:44 pm EDT

The "cake of the day" was on The Week with George. A guest commented that it was only the south having problems. Rush-the-mouth-south oxycodone head lives in Miami and makes $54 million a year. Cambridge is in New England so please do not blame the south for Rush. Where was Rush born? ... I bet not Florida.

Sawdust

August 3, 2009 - 6:32 am EDT

Cape Girardeau, Missouri

tonymo

August 2, 2009 - 3:32 pm EDT

Hey Allen, you need to place the blame where it belongs, on yo bros' who make up approximately 6 percent of the population, but commit more than 40 percent (according to the DOJ) of all violent crimes! The black/liberal play book is to recount anecdotes by blacks who are watched closely by retail store personnel. Is it possible those businesses had been robbed, or shoplifted in the past by blacks?

Not all pit bulls, or rotweilers are vicious, dangerous animals, but most of us when walking down the street and see one of those breeds approaching unattended would almost certainly change direction. That's simply commom sense, and the dog's owner is offended, tough!

This president spent 20+ years in a church that preached "Black Liberation Theology," which blames whites for all of the world's problems, and supports Marxism. Oh, that's right, he had no clue of any of the things said by his racist, anti-white, anti-Semitic, pro-Hamas preacher, and mentor! And of course he didn't know he was being recorded during his San Francisco speech to his wealthy supporters when he spoke of blue collars whites as "bitter clingers" who cling to their guns, and their God! His campaign called Bill Clinton, and the very liberal Geraldine Ferraro racists. He also entered race into the campaign when he said, and I'm paraphrasing, They're going to try to scare you by saying he's too liberal, has a funny name, and by the way, did I mention, he's black!

He had planned to use race as an issue from day one. We even heard from his media sycophants that the ONLY reason whites wouldn't vote for him would be racism. Yet we never heard that from the media when white liberals did not vote for Lynn Swann in the Pa. governor race, or for Michael Steele in the Md. senate race. The people who supported those two black candidates were told the only reason they wouldn't vote for Obama because they were racists. The never ending liberal hypocrisy, and insanity never ends. This president, who called his white grandmother a "typical white woman," whatever that means, cleary has a problem with white America. Is he a racist? I don't know, but the chance of that is every bit as good as are the chances that Clinton and Ferraro, and anyone who didn't vote for him are racists!

Liberals claim that every conservative is a racist even with no evidence of that fact except in their damaged minds, but let someome suggest that one of their own may be a racist, they go into cardiac arrest!