Beginning To Unpack Race, Class, and Privilege in the Case of Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

I’ve been mulling over the incident regarding Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. over the last few days and I fell like there is a lot to unpack regarding the intersections of race, class, and privilege here. If you aren’t familiar with the incident, Dr. Gates was arrested last week after someone called and reported an attempted robbery into his home. It turned out that Dr. Gate’s himself was trying to get his own door open, but after an altercation with the cops, Gates found himself arrested. There are, as usually is the case with incidents where the police are accused of wrongdoing, two quite different versions of events.

Now, I’m pondering questions of Class and Privilege in this incident at the risk of seeming to minimizing the very real disproportionate abuse and harassment of people of color in the hands of police officers. I want to make it clear that under no circumstances can I condone Professor Gate’s arrest. That said, I found myself alarmed at what I perceived (rightly or wrongly?) as the notion that what outrages is not so much that a black man was arrested for trying to get into his own home, but that a prestigious Harvard Professor, who also happens to be black was arrested for trying to get into his own home. There are more than enough examples of police abusing people of color just over the past six months. Why did this incident gain so much currency amongst the blogs, the media, the Twitterers? Why is President Obama being asked to weigh in on this incident and not, say, the Oscar Grant murder?

I suspect that it all boils down to class and status privilege with who is often deemed worthy of our outrage.

The police report alleges that Professor Gates said something along the lines of “you don’t know who you’re messing with.” The claim is questionable only because it’s a “he said/he said” situation, and it wouldn’t be the first time a cop has lied on a police report to cover ass. Is it really that unthinkable that Gates would say this, though? I have a hard time believing that Gates was not fully aware that he was going to come out of all this relatively unscathed. Professor Gates surely knows who that cop “was messing with.” He had to know that he could count on the best legal representation you can get; he had to know that he would have an outpouring of support based on his reputation as a distinguished scholar. In other words, he had to know that he wasn’t going to find himself face down on the ground with a cop’s knee in his back; he had to know that he wasn’t going to be tasered for tumultuous behavior; or worse, find himself dead. The point being: while I feel that Gates was done wrong, I have a hard time seeing him as the poster child for police abuse of black people. There most certainly were racial overtones to his treatment, but ultimately the affront upon Professor Gates was one of class and status. He’s not one of those working-class or poor people that probably “brought it upon themselves.” He’s distinguished, damnit! And so we must be outraged!

Now that I’ve gotten that off my chest, I also need to say a few things to ward off the inevitable:

Do not take this post as some sort of affirmation of a post-racial United States. This is where class and race intersect, and it is much more complicated than that half-assed, simple-minded notion. Don’t go there.

I still feel that Professor Gates was done wrong. This isn’t an “hate on Gates” post. This is me trying to scratch the surface of what is going on. I write this because I don’t want to see anyone, regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, sexual orientation have to put up with stuff like this. I write this because a lot of us would never get off as easily as Professor Gates did.

This is one of those posts that I’m putting out there for serious discussion. I’m not saying that I have it all figured out. Let’s talk. I won’t, however, put up with the usual drive-by comments from people that want to display their bigotry under the guise of free speech. This post, and all others following will be heavily moderated. Don’t come with the bullshit and I won’t delete you.

Complexion, Atmosphere, or Dirty Negroes and Latin@s? It’s All the Same, Right?

If you haven’t heard about the “whites only” pool yet, this one is a doozy.

More than 60 campers from Northeast Philadelphia were turned away from a private swim club and left to wonder if their race was the reason.

Kids at Creative Steps Day Camp were thrilled to go swimming once a week at the Valley Swim Club. But after only one trip to the private club, they were…

“I heard this lady, she was like, ‘Uh, what are all these black kids doing here?’ She’s like, ‘I’m scared they might do something to my child,’” said camper Dymire Baylor.

The Creative Steps Day Camp paid more than $1900 to The Valley Swim Club. The Valley Swim Club is a private club that advertises open membership. But the campers’ first visit to the pool suggested otherwise.

“When the minority children got in the pool all of the Caucasian children immediately exited the pool,” Horace Gibson, parent of a day camp child, wrote in an email. “The pool attendants came and told the black children that they did not allow minorities in the club and needed the children to leave immediately.”

The next day the club told the camp director that the camp’s membership was being suspended and their money would be refunded.

And then comes the money quotation, from the President of the club, John Duesler:

“There was concern that a lot of kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club,”

“Complexion”? “Atmosphere”? Really? You really just went there, didn’t you, Mr. Duesler? You might have gotten away with that shit if you had just said “atmosphere,” but you had to go and throw in that bit about the “complexion” of the club, didn’t you?

Mr. Duesler, your shit is showing, and it ain’t pretty.

My first thought, upon reading about this, was the same as Elon James White of This Week in Blackness. Total shock. Not so much at the thought that people think this way, but that people in this day and age say this shit out loud and do this shit in public (for fear of someone suing their ass off, of course, not out of embarrassment for being a bigot).

I was born ‘78. I’m not supposed to write about White’s only pools. I’m supposed to write about the subtle racism one finds in corporate America or perhaps while being followed in a department store.

For reals. I swear we’ve become so post-racial these days we’ve come full circle back to just full on, outright, in-your-face, no-holds-barred, some-fool-might-burn-a-cross-in-my-yard-next week, blatant racism. If you were unfortunate enough to see the original comments thread at the NBC Philadelphia link above, you know exactly what I’m talking about. That thread made your average YouTube thread look educated and informed (the thread has since been taken down from the site). Don’t worry, however, Elon. There was plenty of subtle racism going on in the coverage of this story such that folks like you and I can keep on blogging a-plenty. Yes, even the commentary on this event that tried to be, erm, civil, was blatantly offensive.

There were the “well, this incident was obviously racist, but people wouldn’t have to be so obviously racist if folks like Jesse Jackson and Al sharpton would just shut up (and all those damn coloreds would just stop talking about Michael Jackson)” responses. [Update: I linked to the wrong post as an example of this sort of BS thinking. I apologize to the author, who was rightfully pissed off about my mis-characterizing his post. I do, however, still have some major issues with his post, just not the ones that I am talking about here. I've removed the link to his post and will try to find the post that I meant to link to and replace it.]

Then there was someone, going by the name of “Johnny Bean,” that seemed to take a lot of pride in pointing out on every website and blog he or she could find that John Duesler was an Obama supporter. I can only assume because that just proves beyond any doubt that all Obama supporters are the real racists. And terrorists. And communists. And vegetarians.

And then there was the completely inexplicable, like this (click to enlarge):

If I had it, I would pay good money to anyone who can explain to me why a “nobama” picture, one that portrays him as a friggin’ monkey no less, is in any way pertinent to this story (is that supposed to be another one of those “all the Obama supporters are the real racists” jab? or what?). Add that picture with what Jane Roh writes, and I’m almost at a loss for words.

That is either a most unfortunate choice of words or a brutally honest confession. Thanks to underdevelopment and that pesky brain drain Philly seems stuck in the 80s, segregation-wise. And all of our local ethnic groups are really awesome at living up to their worst stereotypes. Still, Valley Swim Club: the No Coloreds in the Pool thing, really?? Brave.

What the hell does that even mean? All I can get out of it is “yeah, those white folks might’ve acted wrongly this time, but you gotta admit those Negroes and Latin@s ethnic groups sure do like to act up and cause trouble. Next time, don’t be so blatant about it, k?” That this came from a woman of color makes it all the more disturbing. I wanted to think that she had no choice about that “nobama” pic, but after reading what she wrote, I’m not so sure.

Are you as pissed off about all of this as I am? Well you know there are actions to be taken. So, lets do this.

Contact the club (via Marcy Web at Feministe):

The Valley Club Contact Directory
Physical Address:
22 Tomlinson Road, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006
The Valley Club

Mailing Address:
P.O. Box 134, Huntingdon Valley, PA 19006

Club Phone Number:
215-947-0700

Club E-mail:
info@thevalleyclub.com

Join the Color of Change action to publicly condemn the Valley Club and call on the Justice Department to investigate whether it violated civil rights laws (via Jack and Jill Politics–and the emails y’all should all be getting).

Two weeks ago outside Philadelphia, sixty-five children from a summer camp tried to go swimming at a club their camp had a contract to use. Evidently, the club didn’t know the kids were largely Black.

When the campers entered the pool, White parents took their kids out of the water, and the swimming club’s staff asked the campers to leave. The next day, the club told the summer camp that their membership would be canceled and that they would refund their money. When asked why, the club’s leader said the kids would change the complexion … and the atmosphere of the club.”

A “Whites only” pool in 2009 should not be tolerated. The club’s actions appear to be a violation of section 1981 of the Civil Rights Act. Whether or not any laws were violated, a “Whites only” pool should be something every American condemns.

Please join us in doing exactly that, and please email your friends and family and invite them to do the same. Your signature will also be used to call on the Department of Justice to evaluate suing the facility under federal law. It takes just a moment to do both, here:

http://colorofchange.org/swim/

Obama is President but that doesn’t mean that suddenly all is fine when it comes to race in America. This is a vivid reminder of what we know still lies beneath the surface.

We all know stories like this one — similar incidents play out quietly every day in different communities across the country. The difference in this case is that folks got caught and there was a contract in place that makes for a potentially illegal act.

Standing up now isn’t just about making things right for these kids in Philadelphia or bringing consequences to this swim club (called the Valley Swim Club). It’s about creating a climate of accountability everywhere. If we can publicly shame the Valley Swim Club and hold them accountable for this incident, it will make others think twice before engaging in this kind of discrimination.

Please join us in condemning the Valley Swim Club’s blatant discrimination and calling on the Justice Department to investigate whether they violated civil rights laws. And please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/swim/

Thanks and Peace,

– James, Gabriel, William, Dani and the rest of the ColorOfChange.org team
July 9th, 2009

I Just Don’t Know

Anyone that reads here should be well aware of the recent spate of Hate Crimes and Demostic Terrorist acts that have recently occurred here in the United States (Dr. George Tiller, The shooting of soldiers in Little Rock, and most recently, the shooting at the U.S. Holocaust Memorial Museum). While it should come as no surprise that I am sickened by these acts, it may come as a surprise that I have been quiet about speaking out against these acts.

Here’s the deal: I’m speechless.

I know. It’s hard for anyone that has spent any time around these parts to imagine me, of all people, being speechless; but really, I am. I just don’t know what to say, or how to get a grip on any of this.

I’ve read all of the blog posts pointing out that Janet Napolitano and the FBI pointed all of this out to us a few months ago. And yes, the fringe right had a field day trying to make it seem like some sort of left-wing conspiracy. Still, I’m taken back by it all. This strikes me as something that is happening in the United States that is so beyond politics. I feel like we are going back to a place where politics don’t matter, but the supremacy of power rules all. I fear that we are going back to a place where discourse means nothing, but the ability to prove that you are overwhelmingly stronger than everyone else means everything. Yes, my fellow Liberals and Progressives, I feel that we are walking into a trap, one where we will lose.

I can’t articulate why, right now, but I’m going to keep working on it, because I feel it is necessary.

Oh, so NOW It’s Torture.

I thought it was fairly well established that waterboarding is torture. Well, now that a couple of conservative blowhards agreed to actually experience it, we can all rest assured that it really is torture and not simply the latest socialist fantasy dreamed up by President Obama and his legions of anti-United States, terrorist minions.

Yeah, I’m a tad cynical about these latest ploys. Seems like a plan to backpedal to me.

“Oh, we didn’t really know that it was torture. How could we until we got some conservative white dudes to go through it?”

Because, of course, nothing is true until a couple of conservative white dudes experience it.

And while I am saddened that anyone has had to experience this type of torture (even if it’s to try and prove a point that can’t be proven, for political gain), I just gotta say, I’m not impressed when you have the get out of jail free card at your disposal. Neither Hitchens or Muller have a clue about what it really means to be waterboarded. Correct me if I’m wrong, but I’m guessing that most of the interrogated tortured don’t get to call a time out within 6-14 seconds.

I’m not impressed, but if it makes more people realize how fucked up some of the things we, as a nation, do? Well, I can’t be mad at that.

Oscar Grant Punched in Face before Being Shot

As this story unfolds, it gets uglier and uglier. It appears that another cop punched Oscar Grant in face, knocking him to the ground, before the final tragic episode where Grant was killed took place.

So now, all of you folks in comments that are, in effect, arguing that Grant got what he deserved because he didn’t play nice with the police, are you now going to claim that if Grant had just “taken it like a man” and just understood (or perhaps remembered is the better word) that police beat people down for little to no reason all the time he would still be alive today?

Yeah, you probably are.

As always, Color of Change is on it:

Dear ColorOfChange.org member,

It wasn’t just one cop attacking Oscar Grant on New Year’s Eve. A new video shows that before Grant was killed, officer Tony Pirone punched him in the face without cause, hitting him so hard that he dropped to the ground. Experts have called it criminal. So why has the District Attorney said he’s not pursuing charges?

It took two weeks and thousands of people speaking out before the DA charged Oscar Grant’s killer with murder. Clearly, it will take continued public pressure to see that justice is served throughout this case. This is a moment to demand accountability, and your voice is critical.

Please take a moment to click the link below. By adding your voice, you’ll help us publicly confront District Attorney Tom Orloff, and put pressure on California’s Attorney General to keep an eye on how Orloff handles the case. It only takes a second. And please ask your friends and family to do the same.

http://www.colorofchange.org/grant/

What You Should Be Reading – The Justice for Oscar Grant Edition

MattBastard: Under Siege: On Oscar Grant and Other Victims

Color of Change: Demand justice in the killing of Oscar Grant

Sign the pledge to demand justice for Oscar Grant.

Electronic Village: Justice for Oscar Grant: The Fight Continues

Jose L. Vilson: Before You Become President (Dear Barack Obama)

Keep It Trill: The New Open Season on Black Men: Is It Obama Related?

Womanist Musings: Oscar Grant, Police Violence, and the War on Black Men

Angry Black Bitch: Pondering Justice for Oscar Grant

Ding: We are All Oscar Grant (and Dymond Milburn, Michael Cho, Adolph Grimes…)

Changeseeker: Is Open Season Ever Going To Close?

Johannes Mehserle, Oscar Grant’s Killer, Is Arrested

Well, this is good news:

The BART police officer who fatally shot an unarmed man on an Oakland train platform and then refused to explain his actions to investigators was arrested Tuesday in Nevada on suspicion of murder, authorities said.

Johannes Mehserle, 27, of Lafayette was taken into custody in Douglas County, Nev., said Deputy Steve Velez of the Douglas County sheriff’s office. The arrest was also confirmed by David Chai, chief of staff to Oakland Mayor Ron Dellums.

Mehserle was arrested in the New Year’s Day shooting of Oscar Grant, a 22-year-old supermarket worker from Hayward who was lying facedown after being pulled off a BART train by police investigating a fight. An Alameda County judge signed an arrest warrant alleging murder, and Mehserle surrendered without incident, authorities said.

Now let’s see if anything comes of it. And yes, you will have to excuse me for being cynical here.