Media conveniently ignores prior claims of Harvard police racism
Harry Hope
http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/07/media-ignoring-prior-claims-of-harvard-police-racism/
Media ignoring prior claims of Harvard police racism
By Stephen C. Webster
The corporate media, inflamed by President Obama's assessment that
Harvard police "acted stupidly" when arresting black historian Robert
Louis Gates, Jr., has seemingly forgotten recent history.
Just run a Google News search for "S. Allen Counter".
There is, as far as I can tell, only one publication with a memory
long enough to bring up his case with regards to the controversy at
hand.
Mr. Counter, notes College News, is a black professor of neuroscience
at Harvard.
http://www.collegenews.com/index.php?/article/liberal_college_towns_not_immune_to_racism_7722335252/
He was confronted by university police in 2004 while walking to his
office, reportedly because they suspected this black member of faculty
was a burglar.
Sound familiar?
But the allegations of profiling by the Harvard police do not stop
there.
In fact, in August 2008, the university launched a probe of the police
department's handling of race-related issues following a long string
of complaints from black students and faculty members.
More, from MIT's paper The Tech:
http://tech.mit.edu/V128/N33/harvard.html
President Drew Gilpin Faust announced Tuesday that she has appointed
an independent, six-member committee to review the diversity training,
community outreach, and recruitment efforts of Harvard police, the
first review of its kind in more than a decade.
In recent weeks, black student and faculty leaders have been pressing
the university to address what they view as racial profiling by the
predominantly white campus police force, which Harvard oversees.
[...]
Earlier this month, she noted, officers confronted a person using
tools to remove a lock from a locked bicycle.
The person, whom others familiar with the case have identified as a
black Boston high school student working on the Harvard campus this
summer, owned the bicycle, and was trying to cut the lock because the
key had broken off in the lock.
The two officers involved have been placed on administrative leave,
pending a separate investigation into the matter, said a source
familiar with the case.
Faculty and students say previous incidents have fanned tension with
police.
In spring 2007, officers interrupted a field day on the Radcliffe Quad
sponsored by two black student groups.
Police asked whether the young men and women were Harvard students and
whether they had permission to be there, even though they had a
permit.
And in 2004, police stopped S. Allen Counter, a prominent neuroscience
professor, as he was walking to his office across Harvard Yard because
they mistook him for a black robbery suspect.
Earlier this month, in response to inquiries from the Globe, Police
Chief Francis Riley said through a spokesman that the department has
begun conversations with the black student organizations to address
�bias incidents� but would not respond to a request for statistics on
how often black students and faculty are stopped.
WBZ CBS 38 adds:
http://wbztv.com/local/harvard.police.racism.2.803919.html
The committee, led by former Suffolk County District Attorney Ralph
Martin, will investigate complaints that officers have unfairly
stopped black students, professors and other members of the Harvard
community.
"Police are supposed to be here to protect us and make sure we're
safe. I might be targeted for a reason that has nothing to do with the
person I am," sophomore Anselm Beach told WBZ.
In an e-mail to Harvard administrators, President Faust writes, "All
of us share an interest in sustaining constructive relations between
our campus police and the broader Harvard community, in order to
provide a safe and welcoming environment for all faculty, students,
staff and visitors."
The fact of the matter is, right-wing and corporate-controlled media
would much rather talk about race issues to further faction up
America's poor.
And in that discussion, outlets like Fox would much rather focus on
the white officer who they are making out to be the victim of the
president's allegedly racially-motivated (h/t: Rush Limbaugh)
assessment of his actions.
http://gawker.com/5322247/henry-louis-gates-thankfully-distracts-right-wing-from-health-care?skyline=true&s=x
It's cold, calculated, political propaganda in an effort to further
corral whites toward Republicans, in fear of the angry black man.
Just like the "birthers" and their debunked nonsense.
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/24/birther-g-gordon-liddy-embarrasses-himself-on-hardball/
The president today struck a careful middle-ground in what I'm sure he
hopes to be the last he will have to deal with this matter.
His words were not an apology, but they were not unremorseful either.
http://rawstory.com/08/news/2009/07/24/obama-addresses-acted-stupidly-assessment-of-gates-arrest/
Saying he should have "calibrated" his assessment differently is
certainly a concession, but he saved face by maintaining his position
that the police overreacted.
It appeared, to me at least, an earnest attempt to shift the media's
focus back to what really matters:
The health and financial well-being of the poor and many over the
quibbles of the wealthy and few.
That's not to minimize the very serious and real issue of racial
profiling among the nation's police.
But, with such seemingly dogged insistence in the media the past few
days to pit whites against blacks, especially among right-wing
outlets, perhaps skeptical news consumers should be asking themselves
why these venues would casually forget to mention there's a history of
racial profiling at this wealthy, white-majority university.
Meanwhile, let's all just forget that over 40 million Americans cannot
see a doctor when they are sick.
I think political hip-hop artist Immortal Technique put it best when
he said the following ... http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxKKV7ZtlFQ
"As different as we have been taught to look at each other by colonial
society, we are in the same struggle and until we realize that, we'll
be fighting for scraps from the table of a system that has kept us
subservient instead of being self-determined.
"[...] As much as racism bleeds America, we need to understand that
classism is the real issue. Many of us are in the same boat, and it's
sinking, while these boughie motherf**kers ride on a luxury-liner. And
as long as we keep fighting about kicking people out of a little boat
we're all in, we're gonna miss an opportunity to gain a better
standard of living as a whole."
_______________________________________________________
Harry
M
at the Cambridge Police Dept., not the Harvard Police Dept., right?
Seems to any thinking person that the true "pattern" that you've
uncovered is the knee-jerk accusation of racism by the left.
Great work as usual, Harry. lol
Harry, Hopelessly Masturbating Over Sex Scandals While Americans Suffer From The Worst Unemployment In 26 Years
- "Media ignoring prior claims of Harvard police racism"
You pathetic little dipshit. It was the Cambridge police, not the
Harvard University police. What a fucking loser.
edi...@netpath.net
privileged than 99% of European-Americans. After all, could many
European-Americans, if arrested on trivial misdemeanor charges for a
disorderly episode at their home, count on a black president
intervening in their case? After all, how many of the white 75% of
Americans are as well-paid as Prof. Gates?
http://www.Internet-Gun-Show.com - your source for hard-to-find stuff!
Sid9
<edi...@netpath.net> wrote in message
news:886a7101-bb48-40f4...@o6g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
So what?
He earned it.
Seems you have a big problem of envy of black men smarter
than you are, better educated than you are, and wealthier
than you are.
Poetic Justice
The Liberals don't care, they're just whipped up into a frenzy and facts
and rational are meaningless.
lorad
> http://rawstory.com/blog/2009/07/media-ignoring-prior-claims-of-harva...
>
> Media ignoring prior claims of Harvard police racism
>
> By Stephen C. Webster
>
> The corporate media, inflamed by President Obama's assessment that
> Harvard police "acted stupidly" when arresting black historian Robert
> Louis Gates, Jr., has seemingly forgotten recent history.
>
> Just run a Google News search for "S. Allen Counter".
>
> There is, as far as I can tell, only one publication with a memory
> long enough to bring up his case with regards to the controversy at
> hand.
>
> Mr. Counter, notes College News, is a black professor of neuroscience
>
> He was confronted by university police in 2004 while walking to his
> office, reportedly because they suspected this black member of faculty
> was a burglar.
>
> Sound familiar?
> _______________________________________________________
>
> Harry
Prior shmyer...
Each case has it's own merits, and this case Gates' behavior was
outre' given the fact that he was trying to bash down a door and then
mouthing off to a cop when he could just as easily shown some better
sensibility for the situation.
Too much 'african studies', I think.
suds mcduff
---Ha! Reverse the situation. Say a teabagger's house is mistaken for a
meth lab, and he berates a black dea agent, and is arrested. You'd never
hear the end of the outraged howls and assault rifle rattling from the
rightards...
tricks...@gmail.com
rather
than the rabbis selling organs for profit and the NJ politicos in the
money
laundering allegations.
Starkiller�
Nothing but pure conjecture and speculation on your part. Not worth a
penny.
Try showing evidence anywhere of a black police officer ever being
accused of such.
Then show where any president or even governer stuck their little
noses in it.
As usual, the lib has nothing.
tv
Good point. What would Obama have said if the said porf. was white?
Nothing.
tv
> <edi...@netpath.net> wrote in message
>
> news:886a7101-bb48-40f4...@o6g2000yqj.googlegroups.com...
>
> > Bullshit. Let's never ignore in this that Prof. Gates was
> > more
> > privileged than 99% of European-Americans. After all,
> > could many
> > European-Americans, if arrested on trivial misdemeanor
> > charges for a
> > disorderly episode at their home, count on a black
> > president
> > intervening in their case? After all, how many of the
> > white 75% of
> > Americans are as well-paid as Prof. Gates?
>
> > hard-to-find stuff!
>
> So what?
> He earned it.
>
> Seems you have a big problem of envy of black men smarter
> than you are, better educated than you are, and wealthier
> than you are.
Don't you? I've read you stuff. Sounds to me that you would love to
be Black.
tv
You would have never heard about it in the state run media. The Pres.
wouldn't have mentioned it.
tv
Lot's of bullshit and hot air.
Thumper
Thumper
wrote:
The President didn't mention it. He was asked a question.
Thumper
who cares
> On Jul 25, 10:06 am, "edi...@netpath.net" <edi...@netpath.net> wrote:
>
> > Bullshit. Let's never ignore in this that Prof. Gates was more
> > privileged than 99% of European-Americans. After all, could many
> > European-Americans, if arrested on trivial misdemeanor charges for a
> > disorderly episode at their home, count on a black president
> > intervening in their case? After all, how many of the white 75% of
> > Americans are as well-paid as Prof. Gates?
>
>
> Good point. What would Obama have said if the said porf. was white?
> Nothing.
This whole story would never have happened had he been white. Are you
really stupid or just playing stupid?
suds mcduff
----And which is exactly what would happen...you rightards would cry as
loud as the black community did....
Not worth a
>> penny.
>> Try showing evidence anywhere of a black police officer ever being
>> accused of such.
----I never said it's happened, idiot...I propose you teabaggers would
cry and gnash your teeth just as loud or louder in the same
situation...you're hypocrites...
>> Then show where any president or even governer stuck their little
>> noses in it.
---That doesn't matter....Newsmax or Drudge would pick it up and you'd
all be howling....
>> As usual, the lib has nothing.
----As usual, the rightard can't see past his own racism....
> Lot's of bullshit and hot air.
---Another barely literate rightard....
Sid9
"tv" <tjwils...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:14b56d9f-0202-45c7...@i8g2000pro.googlegroups.com...
Sgt Crowley would not have demanded ID, he would have gotten
into an argument, he wouldn't have arrested a white Harvard
professor.
Sgt Crowley would have said nothing.