Gates' 911 Caller Didn't Specify Race

Woman Says She Thought One Man Was Hispanic

BOSTON -- The woman who made the 911 call that resulted in a Harvard University professor being led from his home on handcuffs said she did not say that she saw two black men trying to break into a Cambridge home earlier this month.

WCVB-TV in Boston reported that Lucia Whalen, a 40-year-old white woman, said she never told the 911 dispatcher that the men she saw trying to force open a door were black. Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy, told the Boston Herald and Globe that when asked by the dispatcher, Whelan speculated that one of the men was possibly Hispanic.

Murphy said Whalen was aware of recent break-ins in the area.

The 911 tape may be released in the next few days.

http://www.wnem.com/news/20187473/detail.html

From USA Today

he Globe also says the Cambridge police commissioner confirms that account, although the police report says Whalen observed “what appeared to be two black males with backpacks on the front porch’’ of the house. The commissioner tells the paper that the report was a summary of all information gained during the police inquiry, and not just the 911 call.

http://blogs.usatoday.com/ondeadline/2009/07/gates-neighbor-says-911-call-did-not-mention-race.html

...just being a good neighbor and she is thrust into the spotlight.

Many people on this board have implied that she is a racist for calling the police...strange world.

It was Crowley's interactions with Gates that came off as disturbing to me.

How many times have we heard the phrase lately? But I'll take it back if race was not mentioned.

but i still haven't seen her slammed on the board. people may have thought it but i think most people tempered that thought with reason.

but none the less fell free to be angry at the invisible mass who are attacking her on this board.

Other posters may have been different.

even though the dispatcher was pressuring her. She thought one was Hispanic. And she thought that they may have lived there..

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x343394

The caller was very reasonable. She mentions an "older woman standing here, who noticed two gentlemen trying to get in the house" ... and they "kind of had to barge in"...

She goes on to say that the older woman said "Someone is breaking into someone's house. They've been barging in," and she interrupted me and that's when I noticed, otherwise I probably wouldn't have noticed it at all, to be honest with you. I was just calling because she is a concerned neighbor, I guess." (around 2:20-2:35 on the linked clip)

In other words, the caller "probably wouldn't have noticed" if the incident hadn't been pointed out to her by the older woman. The woman who made the call was obviously very reasonable... I'm not so sure about the reasonableness of the "older woman" on whose behalf the woman with the phone is calling. I suspect that, while the woman with the phone may not have been personally comfortable making any assessments about the race of the people involved, the "older woman" may well not have been so... reticent, had the phone been in her hands.

The fact that the reasonable woman who makes the actual call didn't even notice anything amiss in what was happening, combined with implied distancing of herself from the call contained in that final "I guess" at the 2:34 mark of the released 911 Tape, makes me suspect that the woman making the call was doing so to humor the "older woman"... and I do not feel uncomfortable suspecting a possible "racially shaped interpretation" on this "older woman"s part.

A quick example scenario. The battery dies in a car with all electronic locks... so the owner uses a slimjim/screwdriver & coathanger combo to open the door, so that he can release the hood, pull the battery, and take it to a store to get a new battery. Many people, if the person doing this is dressed nicely, will see a person having car troubles. If the person is dressed "thuggishly", that same person may see someone breaking into a car. Stir in race, and other "strange" aspects of individuals that the "viewer" might not be familiar/comfortable with... and the perception becomes more "threatening".

Conscious racism? Maybe not. I have no idea. Unconscious racism at the very least?... I'd give better than 50/50 odds, yes.

Even if so, it is not surprising, or even unforgivable. What is shocking is that, on the basis of a call like that, a police officer would even consider arresting a man in his own home, after he has established that it is in fact his home, based on a "disturbing the peace" charge for yelling about racism, when in fact the only reason that there was any incident whatsoever was because some "older woman" saw something that she thought was suspicious, and another woman seemed willing to humor her and call 911.

I think the issue surrounds the interaction between the arresting officer and the professor. At that point the race of the participants was quite evidence to everyone involved. No one is saying that 911 only dispatched officers because the suspect was believed to be African American. Am I missing something that makes this particularly important?

if the call is about "blacks" as opposed to just a burglary.

Also, this women could have become a collateral damage. Even on DU some wondered why she did not know her neighbor.

He said his driver was Moroccan, not AA. And Moroccans do sometimes look like Latinos.

If he didn't know the race of the supposed intruders, it makes me wonder why Crowley assumed that Gates was the bad guy? I guess cause it was a big house in a nice neighborhood, so the cop must've figured that the black answering door had to be the burglar!

and this is what was forwarded to Crowley - see above post.

I think that by now it is clear that both over reacted. I know that I am edgy when I return from an overseas trip, especially if I spend too much time waiting for a connecting flight. Flying all the way from China must have taken a toll on Gates. So, first, finally coming home and being unable to enter, and then seeing a white police on his doorstep, wondering about whether he had a legitimate reason to be there clearly irritated him. And Crowley, honestly reacting to a burglary call which somehow included the "black" description and facing a hostile person...

I don't think that anyone of us can actually predict how we would have reacted, if we are honest.

how did Gates turn into 2 men?

Gates' own statement is that his door was jammed and he and the driver spent about 15 minutes trying to force it open.

nt

As soon as a black man answered the door, Crowley became suspicious. Had a white man answered the door, Crowley would have apoligized and left.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=385x343394

"Two Gentlemen, with suitcases" "I think that one is Hispanic... cannot see the other."

If racism was involved, it is far more likely to have occurred on the fly with Crowley than to have been premeditated before arrival on the scene.

Strawman.

It's not like Crowley couldn't figure it out when he saw Gates. It really is a strawman.

That pretty much specifies race.

breaking in-that they have 2 suitcases and it MAY be their own house. Crowley also claimed Gates said something about his mother which wasn't true along with his report that Gates kept yelling and being unruly.