Media Bias is Bigger Issue than Racism in Boston

In Boston, folks are often charged with being racist. The allegation comes from old misunderstandings and misrepresentations -- and from the Boston Globe!

Earlier today, esteemed (and whack-job) Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was arrested for apparently trying to break into his own home.

Police arrived at Gates’s Ware Street home near Harvard Square at 12:44 p.m. to question him. Gates... had trouble unlocking his door after it became jammed.

He was booked for disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had "no idea who he was messing with,'' the report said.

Gates told the officer that he was being targeted because "I'm a black man in America.''

Sounds like a straight-forward case of Arrested for Being Black, right?

The arrest of such a prominent scholar under what some described as dubious circumstances shook some members of the black Harvard community.

Not so fast. It seems the Globe "neglected" to include some key facts from its story, as detailed in the Boston Herald:

An officer ordered the man to identify himself, and Gates refused, according to the report. Gates began calling the officer a racist and said repeatedly, "This is what happens to black men in America."

Officers said they tried to calm down the 58-year-old academic, who responded, "You don’t know who you’re messing with," according to the police report.

These sound like the actions of a stable, respected individual don't they?

Oddly, the Globe did link to a copy of the Boston Police Incident Report:

(The 911 caller) said she observed what appeared to be two black males with backpaks on the porch (of the house)...

Office James Crowley noted that he stood in plain view of the man... I asked him if he would step out on the porch and speak with me. He replied: "No, I will not."... I asked Gates to provide me photo identification so I could verify he resided (in the house). Gates initially refused...

I could hear Gates demanding my name (for a third time) I again told Gates that I would speak to him outside. His reply was: "Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside."

For what reason could the Boston Globe have for omitting all these details about Gates' action leading up to his arrest? Gates wasn't arrested for breaking-and-entering, he was arrested for Disorderly Conduct. He wasn't arrested for being black, he was arrested for being a pain in the ass.

Why do I have the sense that Officer Crowley will face more of a reprimand than will Gates?

A man -- any man -- is trying to pry open the front door of a house with a crowbar, refuses to identify himself, refuses to provide proof that he lives in the house, and gets belligerent with the police; damn straight they better arrest him.