In this article, Radley Balko reminds us that the “national conversation on race” which has been taking place following arrest of Professor Gates needs to include the overlooked topics of free speech and police misconduct.
Although the role of racial profiling and racism has been incessantly analyzed, as it should, a discussion of the grounds of the “disorderly conduct” charge has been noticeably absent. However, one could certainly argue that President Obama’s now-infamous remarks that: “… the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home..." were targeted towards questioning the validity of the disorderly conduct charge.
Instead of focusing on what Obama meant, Obama’s remarks have been ubiquitously truncated in the media to him simply stating that the cops “acted stupidly” when he didn’t know all the facts. But what gets lost is his explanation for which actions were stupid, which were: “arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home.” The police were called, after all, about the possibility of two men breaking into Professor Gates’ home. It did not take long for the police to establish Professor Gates was in his own home.
The allegations of racism, hot tempers and harsh words that were shared were unfortunate, especially given the media frenzy to follow. But Balko reminds us that, “Verbally disrespecting a cop may well be rude, but in a free society we can't allow it to become a crime, anymore than we can criminalize criticism of the president, a senator, or the city council.”
There has been significant and substantive dialogue in the past week and a half in our national conversation on race. But this national conversation should include more than race. Another conversation should take place on the rights of the arrested or policed, including their right to free speech and to be free from police misconduct.
