Gary Margolis, Executive Director of College Mental Health Services and Associate Professor in the English Department at Middlebury College in Vermont was moved to pen a poem in support of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. The poem was titled “Ajar” and was published at the Boston Globe’s website. Here is a portion:
The police want us to think it’s all
water under the bridge. I have to say
I’m sorry. For them. Someone has topay his respects. I expect we haven’t
heard the last of this. A poem needs
its refrain. White-haired Frost doesn’tleave a key under his mat for me
when I come home late, when I’ve
forgotten which window I’ve left unlocked.
In response to this ode-to-Gates, commenter “Marcus” penned the following:
A Liar
Who hasn’t screamed at a cop
followed him onto a front porch
even spit an insult about his mamajust because you knew you could?
Gates did at his Harvard house.
I’m telling you I’m throughwith people who have friends in high places.
Look around. No one’s around to call
the press who rarely write about me.The elites built a wall around
Cambridge. hey live there, too. And now
Henry Louis Gates Jr. is one of them,all superior to some redneck cop. Mr. Gates
isn’t innocent and profiled. He made
his own mess. Crowley didn’t havea president to call. Just a stupid cop, acting stupidly.
then Oops; sorry, remark clarified. Never mind.
Water under a bridge.The elites want us to think it’s all
water under the bridge. They will never say
they’re sorry. Celebrity privilege. And someone hasto be the privileged one. I expect we haven’t
heard the last of this. A talking point needs
its talkers. Mighty, mighty Harvard won’tleave a jail key for me when I
get busted, when I’ve forgotten
which window I’ve left unlocked.
I think Marcus could have been more succinct, as in “ouch.”
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Related Posts:
Gates 911 Caller Believes Police Acted Appropriately
The “Olive Colored” Skin Defense
Race and Class In Harvard Square
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Comments
I'm done. The cop was right, Mr. Gates was wrong. The end.
Fox News legal analyst sides with Professor Gates.
On Monday, Fox News Legal Analyst and former New Jersey state Judge Andrew Napolitano told to the conservative network’s audience that police broke the law when they arrested Professor Henry Louis Gates for disorderly conduct. Gates was charged with disorderly conduct during a conflict with police on his own property, but as Napolitano explained, the law only “allows an arrest for being disorderly if you are in public. … So if Professor Gates was arrested because of the words he used to police inside his house, on the front porch or on the front lawn, it was an improper arrest.” Napolitano added that police violated Gates’ Fourth Amendment rights the minute they entered his home without his permission:
The law says, unless [a police officer] witnesses a felony…or unless he has a piece of paper from a judge—a search warrant or an arrest warrant—saying “you can go in that house,” he can’t go in the house. So when Professor Gates said “no you can’t come in,” and the police went in anyway [the police] violated the federal Constitution.
http://thinkprogress.org/2009/07/29/fox-gates/
Forbes.com
Commentary
Prof. Gates' Unconstitutional Arrest
Harvey A. Silverglate, 07.28.09, 04:51 PM EDT
There's a First Amendment right to be rude to a cop.
http://www.forbes.com/2009/07/28/gates-crowley-arrest-first-amendment-free-speech-harvard-opinions-contributors-harvey-a-silverglate.html
Do not know where these other comments come from. Gates was arrested outside of his home after he was mouthing off to the policeman. The charges were dropped, but Gates was wrong to behave like a racist pig.