the buzz log

In the standoff between Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates and Sgt. James Crowley, President Barack Obama is the first to issue the regrets.

After a Cambridge police officer arrested a black man on his own porch on July 16, talk about a continued black-white racial divide erupted from coast to coast. On Wednesday, the president waded into the prickly mess during his primetime pitch for a health care revamp. The last question of the night asked his opinion about the Gates-Crowley matter. After making a joke or two, Obama stepped into it by saying the Cambridge police acted "stupidly."

Use Adverbs with Caution
The "stupidly" comment was the parting shot heard round the nation. Gates' attorney Charles Ogletree (and Obama's former professor) felt the comments "right on terms in that we have a problem," but the Cambridge police force demanded an apology and Crowley himself (who teaches classes in racial profiling) said he was disappointed by the words although he supported his president 110%.

Mea Culpa?
Two days later, however, Obama made a surprise appearance at his press secretary's daily briefing to recount a short telephone call with the sargeant. "I just had a conversation with Jim Crowley, the officer involved," he told the White House press corps. "My impression of him was that he was an outstanding police officer and a good man, and that was confirmed in the conversation and I told him that."

Did Obama apologize? Not exactly, but he did give his regrets that he contributed to "ratcheting up" the situation and gave the unfortunate impression that he was "maligning" the Cambridge police force and Crowley in particular.

 

Reaction Shots
Regrets aside, the president said his basic impressions hadn't changed. "I continue to believe, based on what I heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, Professor Gates overreacted as well."

His earlier call for "cooler heads" adds another layer on top of the issues of race and civil liberties, something that one Boston Globe column called "machismo." As Joan Vennochi put it: "The question is whether this police officer responded more harshly [to Gates' grouchiness] because of skin color. The answer isn’t obvious, but both men could use some sensitivity training. Gates shouldn’t have yelled at the police officer; still, what he did was irritating, not criminal. Once the officer determined Gates did live in the house, he should have left, no matter what the professor was shouting."

Breaking Bread or Just a Beer Bash?
State Senator Anthony Gallucio actually went to high school with Crowley and knows Gates. He doesn't believe "that their behavior was rooted in race," and is trying to set up a face-to-face. Maybe then two men—by all accounts smart, reasonable, and upstanding—might actually reach some accord and learn from what Obama has called the "teachable moment."

The president's offer of talking it over some beers still stands.