unsinkable Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I have watched Henry Gates on PBS shows for YEARS! I've always admired him as an intelligent and well-spoken man. After reading those police reports, I must admit that I am VERY disappointed in Henry Gates' behavior. It's SO sad. Maybe he was drunk or something? I sure hope so! I'd hate to think that kind of behavior was Henry Gates in full control of his faculties. Sigh. I think if he was drunk he'd have been charged with public intoxication. But then again, I don't know if that's illegal in MA. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Matryoshka Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 I have watched Henry Gates on PBS shows for YEARS! I've always admired him as an intelligent and well-spoken man. After reading those police reports, I must admit that I am VERY disappointed in Henry Gates' behavior. It's SO sad. Maybe he was drunk or something? I sure hope so! I'd hate to think that kind of behavior was Henry Gates in full control of his faculties. Sigh. :iagree: If the police report is accurate, he was not behaving very well. As far as full control of his faculties, he was just coming home from a flight from China, which usually take 24 hours or more - not that it excuses an outburst, but sleep deprivation? I'm guessing he was already pretty testy that he had to break in to his own house. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 No, he should not have commented. And, I'm embarressed to say that I gasped when he said, "stupidly." It's just a weird word. Doesn't even sound like a word. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 "Stupid" is a banned word in our home. So, personally, his use of that adjective struck me almost as if he had used an obscene word. I believe it was inappropriate for him to comment on the situation, especially in the context of a press conference for health care reform. Seemed strangely like a diversionary tactic.... :iagree: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Donna T. Posted July 25, 2009 Share Posted July 25, 2009 (edited) It will be interesting to see the reports from police and Prof Gates to see where the variances occur. I'm not watching the news, I have no clue what they are saying... but didn't the two police reports (which I've only seen here on this board) state something different in regards to how many potential intruders there may have been? One officer (the arresting officer) said the neighbor had reported two men entering the home. The other officer reported she had stated one man was entering the home. Seems like that alone would make such a huge difference in how the officers would handle the situation. If the officer thought there were two potential intruders, it makes sense he would want Mr. Gates to come outside of his home. Perhaps I've misread the report. Edited July 25, 2009 by Donna T. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
A.D. Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 I'm not watching the news, I have no clue what they are saying... but didn't the two police reports (which I've only seen here on this board) state something different in regards to how many potential intruders there may have been? One officer (the arresting officer) said the neighbor had reported two men entering the home. The other officer reported she had stated one man was entering the home. Seems like that alone would make such a huge difference in how the officers would handle the situation. If the officer thought there were two potential intruders, it makes sense he would want Mr. Gates to come outside of his home. Perhaps I've misread the report. While that would be a vaild reason to ask Professor Gates to step outside of the home, that is not the reason given by the officer in his report. He states he asked gates to come outside as his shouting was making it difficult for the officer to hear him in the home. It is interesting that some here believe that simply reading the police report, which obviously is written by one of the parties with a potential bias, answers all of the questions regarding the matter. After reading the officer's own words, it apears to me that he asked a very agitated and upset citizen to leave their home, which placed them where he could then arres them for disorderly conduct. Is this officer a racist? I have no idea. (I do laugh at someone saying that the simple act of saying someone is a racist automatically makes the accuser a racist.) It does appear that he handled the situation poorly due to his authority being challenged. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Blessedfamily Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 As I stated, Barack Obama did not have all the facts and should not have drawn any conclusions in this case. Reading a police report is not getting all the facts either, so I still can draw no conclusion as that would be doing the same as Mr. Obama. Racism is too serious an issue to me to be either taken lightly or misapplied. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JudyJudyJudy Posted July 26, 2009 Share Posted July 26, 2009 No, he should not have commented. And, I'm embarressed to say that I gasped when he said, "stupidly." It's just a weird word. Doesn't even sound like a word. It doesn't matter if you don't think it sounds like a word; it is indeed a word. There's nothing weird about it. It is an adverb (unlike what a previous poster said that he used). While I think it would have been best if he had not commented at the time, I have to admit that I was pleased to hear that he used the word correctly since I so often hear people use the adjective form of the word when they should use the adverb form. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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