The Not-So-Pearly Gates

On last evening myself and a number of other black (not all are African-American) clergy met with the Mayor and Police Commissioner of the City of Cambridge. Unless you have been living on another planet, you more than likely have heard about the arrest of Henry Louis “Skip” Gates Jr., a prominent African-American Professor at Harvard University. He was arrested on July 16th, when a policeman responded to a call that two black men were breaking into a house located near Harvard University. And this is the topic of our discussion for this post.

What originally seemed like an open and shut case has turned into such a national fire storm of debate that even President Barak Obama found himself dragged into it. Now, approximately two weeks later, we discover that things are not always what they seem. Professor Gates was not breaking into a house, for the house belonged to him. The woman accused of describing the perpetrators of the crime as being black never described them as being black. The arresting officer, Sergeant James Crowley, who has been accused of being racist, may have been more outraged and angered at Professor Gates’ description of his mother than at the color of Gates’ skin.

So now we’re having the big discussion of race, not simply in America, but more specifically in a very liberal city known by many as “The People’s Republic of Cambridge”. Cambridge has always looked upon itself as the bastion of openness, the “Pearly Gates” of diversity for so many different cultures, and rightfully so. In my congregation alone, there are representatives from approximately 35 – 40 different countries.

Thus, this one instance certainly bruised the pride, and maybe even the arrogance, of a city that may not have always been willing to concede that this kind of stuff still occurs even in a city like Cambridge. I personally do not think that this particular case measures up to all of the accusations we as people of color are making with regards to racism and racial profiling.

However, this case represents the smoke that’s led a nation to where the fire called racism still burns. For example, our ministry intern, a Harvard Divinity Student, was followed (almost stalked) by a police officer after coming out of his own apartment. Why? Because he was a black man in his mid-twenties in a Cambridge neighborhood not known for having blacks. And, sadly enough, his experience is exactly the point of this nationally-charged debate. Most certainly, I invite your thoughts.