07/24/2009
I wrote recently that "The obvious point here is that if anyone was being a racist here, itās Gates. He sees a policeman come to his door, judges him by the color of his skin and his blue uniform, and starts yelling." Mickey Kaus reads Gatesās account and says
a) Isnāt it pretty clear that Gates had a narrative in his head too? b) What was the question he refused to answer? c) Just reading this passageāGatesā own wordsāit seems to me he pops into litigious mode a little quickly. He says he wanted to file a complaint ābecause of the way he treated me at the front door.ā How had he mistreated him at the front door? He asked him āWould you step outside onto the porchā (where, as Gates notes, the cop would have more rights). When Gates refuses and instead gives the cop an ID, the cop looks at the ID. And at that point Gates has already determined heās been treated unfairly. Heās already refusing to answer questions and planning to file a complaint. Again, from his own words it looks like he rushes a bit to the conclusion that a white man in a similar situation would have been treated differently. Is that really true? Iām not saying that Gates wasnāt stereotyped in a deeply annoying and disturbing way. Just saying the stereotypes can run boths ways. ā¦ ā¦