Pre-eminent black scholar arrested in Cambridge

[GreNME]

Anyway, the real question is: Would the woman have called the cops if he was a white man who appeared to be trying to break in to the house. I would hope so.

So would most people. I'm skeptical of that hope based on a lifetime of experience.

 

[YSM]

Where do people live that a lock would break due to shoulder-push?

You've never seen someone break a door lock with their shoulder? I can break a door down with my shoulder -- and I'm a small skinny white dude while Henry is a BIG GIANT BLACK DUDE!

 

[Cavemonster]

You've never seen someone break a door lock with their shoulder? I can break a door down with my shoulder -- and I'm a small skinny white dude while Henry is a BIG GIANT BLACK DUDE!

No, I've never seen someone break down a New England locked front door with a shoulder move that resembles the action of clearing a stuck door.

 

[YSM]

No, I've never seen someone break down a New England locked front door with a shoulder move that resembles the action of clearing a stuck door.

You weren't there, buddy. Put the noose away.

The witness saw:

"wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

That doesn't sound like the scene you're trying to describe -- the scene you couldn't have possibly witnessed because you weren't there.

Take a deep breath and go watch some The Cosby Show.

 

[Cavemonster]

You weren't there, buddy. Put the noose away.

The witness saw:

"wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

That doesn't sound like the scene you're trying to describe -- that you couldn't have possibly seen because you weren't there.

Take a deep breath and go watch some The Cosby Show.

When you've broken down doors before, did you use an action that could be described as wedging?

 

[Cavemonster]

You've never seen someone break a door lock with their shoulder? I can break a door down with my shoulder -- and I'm a small skinny white dude while Henry is a BIG GIANT BLACK DUDE!

I'm also curious as to why you needed to describe yourself as a skinny white dude and him as a big giant black dude.

Does skin color effect door breaking ability?

 

[YSM]

When you've broken down doors before, did you use an action that could be described as wedging?

Uh, yes. I'm a little confused regarding your question though because it would seem you think you're making a point when you're not.

Anyhow, this is the entire quote, "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry." So, what the witness saw was a man exerting enough force on a door to be seen as "trying to force entry" into a house.

Put the noose away.

I'm also curious as to why you needed to describe yourself as a skinny white dude and him as a big giant black dude.

Does skin color effect door breaking ability?

No, that was me purposely trolling you.

And it looks like you got trolled.

 

[Cavemonster]

Uh, yes. I'm a little confused regarding your question though because it would seem you think you're making a point when you're not.

Anyhow, this is the entire quote, "wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry." So, what the witness saw was a man exerting enough force on a door to be seen as "trying to force entry" into a house.

Put the noose away.

I'm not holding a noose.
But surely you understand that "as if he was trying to force entry" is a judgement of intent and interpretation. As far as I can tell, even a big black dude would need to start from a step back and give it a good thwack. I would never use the term wedging for so forceful a movement.

 

[Cavemonster]

No, that was me purposely trolling you.

And it looks like you got trolled.

Oh, my mistake, I thought you were here for an honest discussion like the rest of us. If you're here to troll then I can just put you on ignore.

 

[YSM]

But surely you understand that "as if he was trying to force entry" is a judgement of intent and interpretation.

That goes without saying. But I believe the witness interpreted his actions in that way because Henry looked like he was being forceful and not simply because he is black.

As far as I can tell, even a big black dude would need to start from a step back and give it a good thwack.

No, this isn't the The Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past. People do not need the charge ability to break down doors; and even if people did, your point would still be moot because that'd just mean the witness' split-second judgment was incorrect and not that she's a racist like you presume she is. I highly doubt the witness took out a piece of a paper, a pencil, and a calculator to figure out the precise amount of force needed to break down a locked door. What she saw was a stranger tinkering with a door, wedging his shoulder into it forcibly, and then she made a split-second decision based on that information. And despite my hindsight I'm glad she did call the police because it's better to be safe than sorry, although she's probably sorry now because people like you are accusing her of being a racist.

Oh, my mistake, I thought you were here for an honest discussion like the rest of us. If you're here to troll then I can just put you on ignore.

If you want to ignore me because you can't take a joke, then go right ahead. It'll save me the time of trying to teach you any sense.

 

[ravdin]

If someone was breaking into my house who happened to be me, I would want the police to intervene, and ask for ID, and then after I showed them my ID, with the picture matching my face and the address matching the address in question, I would want the police to stop intervening at that point. Even if I were upset.

Well, so would any of us, and the cops would gladly find something else to do if they found you were breaking into your own house. But based on the article, that's not how Gates reacted. One would think that a wealthy individual such as himself would be glad the police were protecting his property, but for some reason his reaction was, "Don't you know who I am? I'm Henry Louis Gates, the eminent scholar! How dare you ask me for ID! This is racism!"

I'd like to see the charges dropped as well, on both sides. I have a feeling Gates will try to make the cop's life as difficult as possible, for doing his job.

 

[Marc39]

A video camera of the incident would have been nice. I note the police had to fall back on disorderly conduct to arrest him. This seems suspicious. In any case, you could have seen if he was giving the police a hard time.

I read the police report and the dude was disorderly. He should avail himself of any courses in anger management offered by the university.

 

[Darth Rotor]

That goes without saying. But I believe the witness interpreted his actions in that way because Henry looked like he was being forceful and not simply because he is black.



No, this isn't the The Legend of Zelda: A link to the Past. People do not need the charge ability to break down doors; and even if people did, your point would still be moot because that'd just mean the witness' split-second judgment was incorrect and not that she's a racist like you presume she is. I highly doubt the witness took out a piece of a paper, a pencil, and a calculator to figure out the precise amount of force needed to break down a locked door. What she saw was a stranger tinkering with a door, wedging his shoulder into it forcibly, and then made a split-second decision based on that information. And despite my hindsight I'm glad she did call the police because it's better to be safe than sorry, although she's probably sorry now because people like you are accusing her of being a racist.



If you want to ignore me because you can't take a joke, then go right ahead. It'll save me the time of trying to teach you any sense.

My take on this is: how many doors away from this man did she live? If it was one or two doors down, why hadn't she ever met her neighbor? Does a liberal dose of suburban angst keep us strangers from our neighbors?

One needs to know one's neighbors, as one may occasionally need to call on them for help. For example, there are two neighbors of mine whom I know and trust enough to leave a spare key with. I've helped in the past year, four of my neighbors with tire repair. Another neighbor ran a petition around our small neighborhood to get local council to put in speed bumps on the road, "for the children." We all got involved.

Get out and get to know your neighbors, folks. If you do, maybe the cops won't have to waste time on calls like this.

Just a thought.

DR

 

[YSM]

My take on this is: how many doors away from this man did she live? If it was one or two doors down, why hadn't she ever met her neighbor? Does a liberal dose of suburban angst keep us strangers from our neighbors?

What makes you so sure she is his neighbor? (I might have missed something from the article.)

Regardless, I agree with you in that people should get to know their neighbors.

 

[Ocelot]

I'm also curious as to why you needed to describe yourself as a skinny white dude and him as a big giant black dude.

Does skin color effect door breaking ability?

Well I am tempted to mention racial differences in fast twitch muscle concentrations but surely that has no effect on strengh or explosive power.

 

[YSM]

Well I am tempted to mention racial differences in fast twitch muscle concentrations but surely that has no effect on strengh or explosive power.

[qimg]http://www.wais.org.au/images/cms/athletescolumn/080826usainbolt.jpg[/qimg]

Surely not! YOU DAMNED RACIST!


On average black people also have denser bones than white people.


OH CRAP LOOK WHAT YOU MADE ME DO!

 

[Darth Rotor]

What makes you so sure she is his neighbor? (I might have missed something from the article.)

Regardless, I agree with you in that people should get to know their neighbors.

I think Donal and I made that surmise due to the likelihood that the caller lived nearby, but it might have been someone driving by in a car, using a cell phone.

Good catch.

 

[Jeff Corey]

I read the police report and the dude was disorderly. He should avail himself of any courses in anger management offered by the university.

And we know that police reports are always accurate and unbiased.

 

[GreNME]

I think Donal and I made that surmise due to the likelihood that the caller lived nearby, but it might have been someone driving by in a car, using a cell phone.

The chance that it was a neighbor is high, and is the perspective I was operating from as well.

 

[Marc39]

And we know that police reports are always accurate and unbiased.

This particular police report seemed pretty straightforward, although, the professor was clearly attempting to intimidate the police and escalate the situation.