Results tagged “skipgates”

The MIT Communication Forum presents a discussion about "Race, Politics and American Media" from 5 to 7 tonight at the Bartos Theatre (20 Ames Street, Cambridge). The talk will focus on media coverage of race and politics, touching on Gatesgate, the decline of traditional media, and other locally relevant events. Participants include Juan Williams (NPR, Fox News), Phillip Thompson (associate professor of urban politics in the Department of Urban Studies and Planning), and David Thorburn (professor of literature and director of the Communications Forum at MIT). The forum is free and open to the public. more ›

• Cops and cabbies have something in common. Neither seem very concerned with the new city rule that bans cell-phone use by cabbies while driving. [Boston Herald]

• US District Court Judge William G. Young ruled Boston exceeded its authority by trying to force cabbies to convert to hybrid cars by 2015. [Boston Globe]

Even if the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. about two weeks ago was just a simple combination of misunderstanding and overreaction, it's created disturbances much larger than anything Gates could have yelled. First Obama called the actions of the police "stupid." Then there was the racist email sent by a Boston police officer. Finally, we got around to the important question: what beer will everyone drink? But perhaps most disturbing is Gates' revelation today at the Martha's Vineyard Book Festival that he received death threats over the incident. Imagine: you're arrested. In your own home. You're upset about it. So people threaten to kill you. Gates may have overreacted to Crowley's demands, but that doesn't excuse escalating the situation from being disorderly to threatening death. And though that infamous beer summit hasn't given rise to much concrete action yet, Gates says he wants to create a documentary about racial profiling. The documentary would pair the experiences of police officers and profiled individuals to help everyone understand that there can be multiple perspectives on the same incident. more ›

Subverting perceptions of him as a dangerous criminal, Henry Louis "Skip" Gates Jr. has sent flowers to the woman responsible for the 911 call that eventually resulted in Gates' arrest. Lucia Whalen's attorney said her client "appreciated" the flowers, which were reportedly tulips. No word on whether Whalen is upset at not being invited to the White House or not having a burger named after her. Maybe the tequilafest will happen next week, with Ms. Whalen involved. more ›

In an interesting development in the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. over a week ago, the person who called in Gates for breaking into his own house says she didn't cite Gates' race when calling in the potential crime. Caller Lucia Whalen has "worked in Cambridge for more than 15 years, about 100 yards from where Mr. Gates resides," according to her attorney Wendy J. Murphy, and "never said she saw two black men." While this creates quite a twist for folks (including this Bostonist) who suspected that the non-crime might not have been called in were it not for Gates' race, it doesn't excuse the fact that Gates was arrested even though he didn't commit a crime. It is unfortunate that this information was not reported from the start; the way information is unfolding piece by piece suggests that someone—the Cambridge Police Department?—has been attempting to keep details under wraps. The police report specifically states that the caller reported "two black males with backpacks"—perhaps that should have been two males with black backpacks?—but at the end of the report Whalen is cited merely as having seen "a man wedging his shoulder into the front door to pry it open." The report also describes Whalen as white, when she actually has “olive-colored skin and is of Portuguese descent" according to Murphy. more ›

This may be the first time we've actually enjoyed reading something on Livejournal (though we might've started off with something more like "Among snowless Cambridge streets / the only moving thing / was the hand of the black man"). Choice excerpts from ayun's take: more ›

In the aftermath of controversies about a Cambridge police officer arresting a famous African-American professor for existing in his own home (also known as Gatesgate, and of his own choice to call the action "stupid," Barack Obama has proposed the unthinkable: a discussion. Talking about race in America? Get out! Breaking a longstanding tradition of ignoring racial conflict, Obama has officially invited Cambridge police officer James Crowley and Harvard professor Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr., to the White House for a beer and a bit of conversation about the incident. Obama's hope is that the debacle can morph into a "teachable moment" for everyone, and be brought to a conclusion that will allow the nation to focus once again on providing health care to all its citizens. Latest news has it that Skip has accepted the offer. We're excited to see the transcript of that chat, if it's released. more ›