Everyone,
Please; take it from me as an African-American, racism is far from absence within the American landscape. Know that there are more reports of overtly racist behavior being made to authorities than ever before. Those who are openly racist are seething at the image of our President each day; and the progress America has made.
It also should be noted that no American president in our nation's brief history has ever received more death threats than our beloved Obama. The Secret Service, who watches the First Family, has had to recruit even more personnel than ever before, due in part to threats again the Obama girls, alone.
As for the incident with Gates, I personally do not wonder why the police acted as they did. If you Google "Boston Racism," you'll see why. I wonder which of his neighbors didn't recognize him after all those years of living on the same block, or in the same area. Would they have called the police if two white men were trying to gain access to Gates' home?
Also know that Boston has always had a reputation of being one of the most racist cities in the United States, due in part to its shockingly apparent segregation of races. South Boston, or "Southie" is almost exclusively white, Irish, and lower-income. Other parts are mixed, while the Cambridge area (near Harvard) is "quite white."
Guess where Gates lived?
Darrell M. Newton, Ph.D.
Associate Professor, Mass Media and Cultural Studies
The Department of Communication Arts
Salisbury University
269 Fulton Hall
Salisbury, MD 21801
(410) 677-5060 Office
(410) 543-6229 Department
http://faculty.salisbury.edu/~dmnewton/
>>> Angelina Osborne <[log in to unmask]> 07/22/09 6:27 AM >>>
I read this article on the Times online site - a reminder that having a US president with African ancestry doesn't mean that inequality has been eradicated, something that many people have tended to assume.
Please also see Lola Adesioye's article http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2009/jul/22/race-america-henry-louis-gates
Angie
----- Original Message -----
From: arthur torrington
To: [log in to unmask]
Sent: Tuesday, July 21, 2009 10:23 PM
Subject: PROFESSOR HENRY LOUIS GATES Jr.
The Boston Globe
Harvard professor Gates arrested at Cambridge home
July 20, 2009 05:55
By Tracy Jan, Globe Staff
Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation's pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.
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