Usually, incidents of arrest and small matters unrelated to the presidency or politics don't seem like they should ever show up as topics in the upper echelons of our government, but all too often it seems that our leaders are forced by the press and looming approval polls to speak to topics and issues that are simply time wasters. Reports that president Obama's approval ratings had recently fallen were asserting that the main cause of this decline is the remarks he made during a press conference when asked a question about a recent event in the media.
On July 16th, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was charged with disorderly conduct following an incident in his home, however the charges were later dropped. Gates, a high profile African American in academia believed that he had been profiled by the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, who is white. During a press conference a week later, president Obama was asked questions regarding the incident and stated that he thought the police "acted stupidly" in their handling of this incident. I'm not making any claims as to the truth of the claims made by Gates because I don't believe that the media has enough information to know one way or another. Instead, I am taking issue with the fact that this is even something that the president has to waste his time and breath over.
While I do believe that racial profiling is a terrible and unethical practice, I don't believe that this incident is a clear cut case of it, as no charges were filed and no one can attest to it. If it were a blatant profiling of Sgt. Crowley, then I would expect him to be reprimanded by his superiors and dealt with in court between him and Gates. At no point do I deem it necessary for our president, who is up to his ears in issues from health care reform to the war in Iraq, to make it a personal issue that he needs to comment on and resolve.
NPR reported on the story and had quoted the president as saying that he should have more carefully "calibrated" his remarks and that he in no way was accusing Crowley of being stupid. "And this evening, Obama, Gates and Crowley are due to sit down and talk -- over beers -- at the White House." This last quote from the aforementioned article just reiterates my point. The president is inviting these men to the White House for beers and conversation in order (in my opinion) to look like he is handling the situation from both sides. On one side, he was standing up for minorities and defending Gates' claim that he was profiled, when he made his initial statement. And now, realizing his blunder and seeing his approval rating decline, he is attempting to make nice with the offended party.
Don't be confused, I am not taking issue with president Obama's comments or his attempt at diplomacy between the two men, what I am finding odd is the fact that the ball from this issue is even remotely near his court. I think that the media cause events like the one between professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley to be blown out of proportion and demand opinions from people like the president who are not remotely a part of the situation. This just causes the president to have to formulate comments that the people want to hear, and then save face if he, god forbid, offends some white guy. Hopefully, as his presidency forges ahead, our president will just block out the white noise of the media and spend time commenting on and fixing the real problems facing our nation.
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In Government by Asia's blog, "'Mountain out of Mole Hill' Approach Slows Government", Asia talks about an incident that happened on July 16th where a man named Henry Louis Gates (an African American professor at Harvard) was charged with disorderly conduct for breaking into his own house. He had been profiled by the arresting officer, Sgt. James Crowley, who is white and during a press conference a week later, president Obama was asked questions regarding the incident and stated that he thought the police "acted stupidly" in their handling of this incident.
ReplyDeleteBut I disagree with Obama's comment because the officers were told that "two black males with backpacks are trying to gain entry into a house"-- which instantly sounds like a burglary situation. Also, the professor lost his temper to the cops which made the officers be even more convinced that the professor was guilty. Obama's comment about the police seems one-sided on the professor because he's African American.
I have been aware of this news before and I instantly thought that this matter was insignificant. But otherwise, such an incident doesn't seem like a situation important enough to be brought up to the president in Asia's opinion and I agree. The media just wants Obama's opinion on this situation so they can scramble his comments to how people want to hear it. But honestly, Obama should have nothing to do with this insignificant issue and should be more focused on fixing the economy of the U.S.