I think Jim Wallis was on the mark in his commentary that both Gates and the police officer got caught in a script. They both appear to be people of very good sense who wound up in a script that basically neither approves of. The fact that this incident wasn't quite what it seemed like on first impression should not be used as an excuse to avoid dealing with the reality that African-Americans today still often receive discriminatory treatment from police.

If you're white and male, you can't see white privilege. It's like trying to admire the outside of a house while standing in the closet. You can still have a view of the houses of others; it's just easy to distort what you think goes on in those houses based on your own experience alone.

Whites and minorities wake up on different sides of a very high fence --whites approach their days based on certain assumptions about how life is, and ought to, be. Minorities, depending on their particular worlds, have their own basic assumptions about how the world looks and how their lives go.

We can't ever fully understand life in someone else's context. I'm a white woman with five black children and a million black in-laws. I still make assumptions based on past experience and the way I was raised though my family has opened my eyes to worlds I never imagined.

None of this has anything to do with where we landed, after birth, on the economic scale.

Barack Obama was wrong to try to "soften" his comments on the Gates incident. He should have retracted them completely. He spoke without knowledge of the basic facts, let alone any understanding of the "other", and in the process elevated a trivial incident (whatever your opinion, Gates is a free man already) into a national controversy.

The best thing that can be said for the whole thing is that Obama may have knocked himself off his own carefully constructed pedestal.

Note to Barack Obama: being a know-it-all is a great way to become unpopular real fast. Best course of action is to admit you jumped to conclusions and let the good people of Cambridge Mass figure this out for themselves.

LV

I believe what we are to do with all that we are entrusted is to steward it for Kingdom purposes. We usually think of this in regards to our money, time, careers, etc. But it also applies to our difficult life circumstances, trials, famiilies, relationships, and conflicts. If someone 'screams' at me on this blog--how am I to steward that opportunity?

In the years of my wife's illness we had scads of nurses and other professionals in our home--round the clock. I was astonished at the amount of brokenness in so many of the womens' lives -- and anger at men. It was very heartening and humbling to watch the Lord use our marriage as an encouragement and hope to others. Just last week a woman in her 60's who is the mother of a friend of a friend told me how my love for my wife (who died almost 3 yrs ago) gave her hope she could find a loving a marriage.

I could be upset so many women are bitter and broken and sometimes angry at men--or I can be grateful for my 'white maleness' and steward it in a way that expresses Christ's love.

There are times when 'white privilege' has to be laid down. I won't write a book--but let it suffice to say that the occasions on which I have seen white persons truly be treated as "the nigger" by other whites--they are devastated. Some commit suicide.

I do not think this issue can be seen simply as a sociological or historical issue. There is a powerful spiritual dimension. There are principalities and powers of various kinds involved in this. It is possible to discuss racism in huge macro terms that makes the whole of reality sound like some racist conspiracy; and it is possible to describe it in micro terms that makes it virtually meaningless. To me, there is truth in both sides. It doesn't work to get in a shouting match or "point-counterpoint" discussions.

To letjusticerolldown, I don't even have any words to respond to your post. Just know that it touched me deeply and I thank you for every word. I hope many people will read it and open their hearts to what you said.

Brian, what white male priviledge are you referring it? Perhaps you could enumerate those priviledges.

Agree conservative talking heads should change their tone...but so should liberal ones.

Incidently, nothing destroys compassion for people who truely need it more than to see people who appear to need it take advantage of those who provide it.

Well, you have lived quite a different life than I have. I have never once felt privileged to have "white" skin. You speak about racial identity, the truth of the matter is I have no idea what my "race" is. I was adopted at 2 y.o. because I was abandoned by my birth mother. In general I am darker year around than most "white" people, so I tend to think that I am mixed. As a child I was more than once referred to as "mexican" because I would get so dark in the summer. Culturally I grew up in an environment that was dominated by hispanics. I have experienced time and time again how my lighter skin tone has worked to my disadvantage. I have come to see the term "White Boy", to be just as racist as "Wetback", "Chink", "Nigger", etc. I am glad you had this wonderful magic life filled with this so called "White Privilege". In my world it is imaginary and has never existed. My whole life I have always had friends "of color". So identifying with other cultures has NEVER been a problem with me. In fact I dont even get what you are trying to say with half of your reply. So in short, I have never identified myself with any one race. Usually I check the "other" box when asked. I always say that I am homo sapiens sapiens, and that is the end of it. Sorry to hear about your wife. I noticed that you have mentioned her before in other posts. I have never been married, so I can't even imagine the loss. As you speak of the woman in your life, I am reminded that in general I am not even attracted to white women, I have dated black girl, a puerto rican girl, and a chinese girl, but not a white girl lol.

I am very sorry for your wife.

I do agree with nonkimono, though. I think the culture of victimization has played a big role in the African American psyche. No doubt there is racism. It exists anywhere two or more different races or cultures live in proximity to each other. The question is: what am I supposed to do with my White privilege? Put on sackcloth and ashes and mourn for a time? Provide restitution to the African Americans I know? Essentially, the White Privilege term is a conversation non-starter. It assumes that we're supposed to do something about it. Change our skin color, perhaps? Or, just shut up and take it. The African Americans at my church seldom bring it up. There's no where to go with it. I think we at church rather talk about what Jesus is doing in our city and in the world.

Here in Madison, we have a very liberal white, male mayor. He recently kicked our alderwoman -- a Vietnamese woman who survived the War -- off of key council posts, because in essence she was trying to make the neighborhood adjacent to mine safer. There have been a number of shootings and other issues, and the people in this area are naturally upset. The alderwoman doesn't follow the standard liberal line of thought -- a former ESL teacher, she tries to put principle over politics. The mayor didn't like her "style." I would call that racism, even though she's not black. Wouldn't you? It's just not a black and white issue. It's black-latino, latino-asian, white-latino. We've got to get past simplifying complex realities. Otherwise, the Gospel will never be effective.

Conversations about race are essentially non-starters, because everyone comes with an agenda. Jesus never favored one race over another, nor did he believe in the culture of victimization. He came to set everyone free.

"In other words, both men proved they are human, they both made mistakes, and apologies are due from all directions. Let's hope they have that beer, become friends, and move on to more important things."

I absolutely agree we should dismiss them off the stage to the President's garden for a beer. But then the nation should embrace that the 400+ yr history of this nation that Dr Gates life work represents to the nation; and the difficult and unfair dilemmas we expect police to solve every day represented by the life work of this Officer; both involve deep and significant unfinished business that better journalism and politics would help a nation work through.

I don't think "white privilege" as a concept tends to open up our ears very often as life usually doesn't feel very privileged. But maybe there is something to learn from the concept. All of us are part of this society that has been quite devastated by racial brokenness over the years. It does touch our lives and relationships. It does exact a cost on all of us. So if there is something that gives me a glimpse into my own being and behavior that would in some way allow me to be more whole and to advance a sliver of healing--I think it valuable to take a look at it.

I don't think healing ultimately comes by someone emerging victorious as being right about all things.

When I was a young man (I have been pretty much a white person all my life) I listened to a presentation about submitting to Black leadership. About twelve years later when I worked for a black pastor in a black church in a black community--and basically had to submit "to another world". I always thought we ought to have mutual relationships of respect and love. I discovered that such mutuality is virtually impossible without submission.

This is even true in marriage. A whole lot of mutuality could not take place until I learned to say, "Yes Dear."

It is even more true when there has been an uneven, historically oppressive relationship.

I have seen missionaries and cross-cultural workers labor for decades and never get this. I have seen others who in a flash of insight catch this overnight.

For me, coming to grips with 'whiteness' helped redefine my relationship with all people. Jesus indicated we are to live as ones who serve and not lord things over others. I don't normally think of myself as a white person. I am just me. Even this is a little bit of a privilege.

"White" as an idea and identity was simply in contrast to 'black,' 'brown,' etc. If there were not these other categories--we'd break out into things like "Irish-Americans," etc. So the idea that I am 'white' is simply a contrast. It is saying "I am not black, brown, etc."

And the historical idea and reality behind that was to define whites as superior. Being defined white was by definition an identification of superiority.

My wife and I drove through a small Minnesota community. We had two vehicles. She was working there and I was visiting her for a couple days. I followed her through the community. I was very close behind her. She was (now deceased) African-American. A squad car 'jumped' out of a parking lot--inserting itself almost on her bumper (and almost on my front bumper since we were so close). He stayed on her bumper all the way through town.

I'm glad he didn't jump on my bumper--which he could have done more safely. There was absolutely nothing about her driving or vehicle to get this response. Actually she was driving a basic new Accord. I was driving an old Audi that probably deserved to get pulled over. But this is my privilege. Just a little nice benefit. I don't think of it as a benefit. I think of it as normal. Police intervene in my life when I am wrong, in danger, or there is reason for police to check me out. That is normal. That is a privilege.

My wife died at 45--highly successful and accomplished--a perfect testimony to what an individual is able to accomplish in this nation in spite of hardship. She died of disease. The disease most likely the result of long-term (decades long ) intense stress. That stress did not stop with a good education or good job. Her seven year girl cried herself to sleep in my arms last night--missing her Mommy who died almost three years ago.

There are a thousand prices I have not had to pay in life--that she paid. I consider my life normal. It is a privilege.

You seriously have to be kidding me with that "white privilege" crap. If there such a thing as "white privilage" I have never seen any of it. I have NEVER been given ANYTHING! As a child I stood in line for food stamps with my mom, where was this, "white privilege" then? When I went to college I wasn't eligble for many scholarships because I didn't have enough pigment in my skin, so where was my "white privilege" then? Where was my "white privilege" when I had to stop going to University because I was homeless because I couldn't afford school. "White privilege" is a myth. Socio-economic privilege is something I can believe in. Any of my black, hispanic, or asian friends would tell you that I have had it 1000 times harder than they did. None of them were homeless in highschool either, but I the "privileged white boy" was. You need to take that comment and put it in the trash where it belongs.

Very well stated. I agree wholeheartedly with everything you said.

My first reaction upon learning of Gates’ arrest in his own home after a neighbor mistakenly reported a burglary in progress was, “You have got to be kidding. What was the police officer thinking?” The President’s initial reaction that the police had “acted stupidly” seemed accurate to me, as I simply could not fathom how a black professor was arrested in his own home, particularly after it had become clear that the report of a crime had been a mistake and that this very distinguished professor, author, and PBS commentator, was in his own house. However, as is often the case with issues so seemingly black and white, the facts often interfere with our initial instincts and pre-conceived notions of reality, and the truth turns out to be much greyer than originally thought.

Much of the commentary I have seen on this incident has assumed that this was another incident of racial profiling, Gates the innocent victim of white racism by yet another rogue police officer who assumes every black man is a criminal and cannot distinguish a Harvard professor from a crack addicted burglar. Had Gates been arrested for burglary, which many commentators have incorrectly assumed, it would have been nearly impossible to argue otherwise. The history of black men being arrested for crimes they did not commit, for being stopped on the street because they did not “belong” in a particular neighborhood, for being falsely identified by white witnesses possessed of insufficient skill and care in making cross-racial identifications, lends instant credibility to charges of racial profiling, particularly where a black professor is arrested in his own home.

But the professor was arrested for disorderly conduct, not burglary, by a police officer specially selected to teach other Cambridge officers the wrongs of racial profiling, which suggests a scenario at odds with the “black man arrested for burglary in his own home” narrative that so many commentators have assumed. According to the police report, and apparently not really in dispute (except for certain details as to what Gates may actually have said to Crowley), Gates was very angry and belligerent, clearly upset that he was, in his mind, being accused of burglarizing his own home, such that he lost his temper and said a lot of things to the officer. I do not believe the officer was correct in arresting Gates – in my view, he was not – but it suggests many possibilities that have little or nothing to do with race in explaining why Gates was arrested.

As a criminal prosecutor for over 18 years in two different cities, I have worked with and befriended many police officers and law enforcement agents, black and white. I have heard their war stories, accompanied them on ride-alongs and, unfortunately, attended some of their funerals. Most of them are hard working, honorable men and women who try to do the right thing and who patrol the streets with discretion and tactfulness. But officers tend to have varying degrees of self-control and patience; some are quick to bang heads, while others are more skillful at ratcheting down heated scenarios and exercising diplomacy. Issues of class and race are ever present in the exercise of their daily duties, and as can and should be expected, some officers are more sensitive to such issues than others, and some have greater degrees of tolerance for abusive and disrespectful language.

From my perspective, this is what I take away from the incident:
• Initial appearances to the contrary, I do not believe this case involved any sort of racial profiling. This appears to be a case of an officer losing his patience with a belligerent citizen. Gates was understandably upset that a police officer was in his house and investigating a burglary that neither he nor anyone else committed. And as someone who has spent his entire life studying and teaching the history of the African American experience in the United States, he perhaps is particularly sensitive to issues of racial profiling.
• Although I believe Gates over-reacted, failing to see that the officer was actually doing his job, responding to an admittedly mistaken report of a burglary-in-progress, but nonetheless attempting to protect Gates’ home, we do not know how Sgt. Crowley handled the initial approach with Gates. If Crowley was overly authoritative, it would help explain why Gates became so belligerent – i.e., "how dare you suspect me of anything, this is my house, I am a Harvard professor, yeah, just assume I’m guilty of something, another white cop oppressing a black man in America..."
• Contrary to the statements of many commentators, the odds favor that, even had Gates been white, all thing being equal, he would still have been arrested. While I personally have not suffered the indignities of DWB, I know better than to yell and scream at a cop. I will be arrested, possibly have my ass kicked to boot, if I treat an officer with a great deal of disrespect. I am not saying this is right – police officers need to have thick skins and should be able to tolerate a great deal of verbal friction – but I know enough cops, and have seen enough in action, to know that, you verbally accuse a cop and disrespect them, you are taking a big chance on getting handcuffed, black or white.
• That being said, Sgt. Crowley should have known better than to escalate this incident into an arrest. Regardless of what Gates said – and I don’t care if he did say, “I’ll speak to your mama outside” as alleged by Crowley in his police report – the officer should have walked away and taken whatever verbal abuse Gates may have been dispensing.

In other words, both men proved they are human, they both made mistakes, and apologies are due from all directions. Let's hope they have that beer, become friends, and move on to more important things.

--Let’s assume (for a minute, anyway) that Sgt. Leon Lashley, the African-American officer who was present at the arrest, got it right when he said Dr. Gates reacted inappropriately to the investigating white police officer, Sgt. James Crowley. Further, let’s assume that Sgt. Crowley acted “according to protocol” in arresting Dr. Gates for his overreaction. And further, let’s assume that President Obama spoke inappropriately when he used the word “stupidly” without knowing the full story. I’m not saying this is the whole story, or the best way to view the story, but even if we grant these assumptions …--

Backpedalling now, Mr. Mclaren and Sojo? Don't want to be held accountable for your own "The cop is a racist" articles?

--Whether it’s the Gates incident or the Sotomayor hearings, I am saddened to hear so many white American Christians (Catholic, evangelical, etc.) jump on the Hannity/Limbaugh/Buchanan/Beck/Fox News bandwagon. Their reactive move toward finding someone to blame — case closed — reveals to me how much these commentators (rather than Billy Graham, any recent Pope, the Bible, or any denominational headquarters) have become the primary source of spiritual formation (not just political misinformation) for large sectors of the white American church.--

Ah, yes, pity us who think that (horror of horrors) one side may be right and the other wrong. Look with barely-contained loathing on those of us who really want to know the real story of what happened, instead of getting on the "Gates is a victim of racial profiling" bandwagon. Lump all those who do not toe the Sojo line as closet bigots.

--It’s important that my white evangelical brothers and sisters not let Sean Hannity and Rush Limbaugh give the proper perspective on seeing this issue.--

Funny. Hilarious. No case made about where Rush and Sean actually have the proper perspective or not (not to mention that the man is calling them racists), just that they can't allowed to have it.

--And yes (I’m preaching to my own soul here), may we also feel compassion for the broadcasters whose punditry serves to reinforce white male privilege and reduce compassion for too many of us. After all, they can only speak what’s in their hearts, and right now, there’s a lot of fear and outrage screaming inside them. Their fear and outrage will only grow as resistance to white male privilege grows, white male privilege being so inherent to reality as they have known it that they consider it normal and the way things ought to be. Unless they are liberated from their fear and freed to discover a better vision of how things can be, their reactions will only get even more shrill and extreme.--

The only "shrill and extreme" reaction here is yours, Mr. Mclaren. You are the one accusing those who disagree with you of racism. You are the one accusing those who disagree with you of being fearful and outraged. As one who listens to Rush quite often, I will say that you are best wrong, at worst blatantly misrepresenting him.

Oh, and the President was wrong to say what he said about the police, especially given his own confessed lack of knowledge of the situation.

Where has this compassion for previous Presidents been when they spoke out of turn? This President has turned the entire incident into his showplace, not devolving into the farcical "let's all have a beer." Yep, let's add alcohol to THIS picture.

It's this us vs. them mentality that has driven the Religious Right over the years. Now that the other side has seemed to take control over the country's destiny, we must put up or shut up. As Lumens noted, McLaren want to present this as an either-or proposition, as if we're too uncritical to think that there is at least a third way.

My sense from reading Sojo blogs is that the authors believe that they are presenting an effective counterpoint to the new media. Somehow the news media, in their minds, has favored Sgt. Crowley, a man who has taught courses on racial profiling. I can tell you that racial profiling and hatred between races go on every day both here and around the world. Whites against Blacks. Blacks against Whites. Whites and Blacks against Latino, etc. etc. But little is done to address greater concerns such as black on black crime and the low performance of Blacks and Latinos in schools. (I find it fascinating that Sojourners hasn't written anything about Obama's ed. initiative. At least Obama's doing something positive and creative with the initiative. Why hasnt' Sojo blogged about it? Perhaps they don't want to piss off core constituents?

The Gates-Crawley confrontation is miniscule compared to the greater problems that we should be addressing. These are indeed sad times.

If McLaren can dismiss the argument that Gates was in the wrong by accusing it's adherents of riding the Buchanan et al... bandwagon, it would seem fair to note that the writers here have reflexively copped the treacly language of race activists and the NYT.

McLaren presents two options. Agree with him or be just like Pat Buchanan. Binary, indeed.

10. Being wrong is only a problem if it destroys life or property, or if you repeat your mistake.

Now that is an interesting lesson--given that the 'mistake' here is a symbolic drama of a centuries old drama.

So I think you are correct. The mistake was a mistake. The problem is the centuries-old repetition for which Dr Gates and Sgt Crawley are no more responsible than you or I. In fact they may both have done far more with their lives than the vast majority of Americans to reform our society.

If the issue is the 'mistake', then it has been blown way out of proportion. If the issue is the 'problem' then we have not begun to touch the scale of the issue.

A couple of comments. First, I agree with Bruce McLaren that followers of Christ should not look to the conservative news pundits as their primary authorities for anything. This is only my opinion. If it is unfair, forgive me. But conservative or liberal, news pundits are little more than media constructs, cartoon characters really, whose purpose is not to convey truth, but to support a predetermined ideology. They are to public discourse what the WWF is to sports. To consider them in any way as authorities to be followed is ill-advised at best.

Second, I have been in the car with friends who have been pulled over for DWB. It has been obvious and offensive when it happened. What I can't imagine as a white male is what it would be like if I had to live my entire life with the realization that at any time I could be pulled over just because of the way I look. I confess that my feelings would probably be very similar to Prof. Gates', were I in that same situation.

But. . . I have also been on drive-alongs with police officers and have witnessed firsthand the anxiety that occurs when they come onto a potential crime scene. Again, as a civilian, I can't imagine what it would be like going to work every day knowing that even routine situations could result in my death before I came home.

I don't believe that either Professor Gates' or Sgt. Crowley's responses were right, but both were reasonable, given their worldviews and their life experiences. There are in this episode neither culprits nor victims. Just a clash of two good but different people approaching a problem from two different perspectives and not having the time to sort out the differences.

That having been said, what can we learn from this situation? At least these things.
From Prof. Gates:
1. Don't lose your keys.
2. Realize that jet lag can give you a very short fuse.
3. When the policeman demands cooperation, give it, unless you are willing to be arrested. And if you're willing to be arrested, don't gripe about side issues when you are. That's what civil disobedience is all about.
4. Neither academic brilliance nor public leadership automatically translate into credibility with people who don't know you. . .ever.

From Sgt. Crowley:
5. There are always stories behind the stories you hear. We know that, but we forget it in pressure situations.
6. Most of the time, de-escalation of conflict takes a lot more time than we think it should.
7. Exercising positional authority should be the very last resort. And, in exercising it, you will almost always lose some credibility in the eyes of least some of the general populace.

From Both:
8. You can be reasonable and still do the wrong thing.
9. There are more reasons for conflict than simply racial differences.
10. Being wrong is only a problem if it destroys life or property, or if you repeat your mistake.

Bottom line, this has become an issue that is blown way out of proportion.