Tayari's Blog: What Do You Call a Black Man With a Ph.D.?
Posted by TayariJones on July 20, 2009 04:30 PM
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Current Events
I believe I am the only fan of the Sam Jackson/Nick Cage movie, Amos and Andrew, that came out in 1993. The premise is this: Sam Jackson plays a black academic big-shot who is mistaken for a criminal after his neighbors see him moving in at night. "When you see a black man carrying stereo equipment, you know what it means..." So the police set up this big operation to arrest the Big Scary Black Man. When they see him on the cover of TIME magazine, they get the cockamamie scheme to make it right. Hijinks ensue. (Best part is when Sam Jackson hits the Sheriff over the head with a skillet, but I won't spoil it by tell you what he says while he does it.)
Well, life is imitating art over in Cambridge, Massachusetts-- minus the hijinks. Professor Henry Louis Gates of Haaarvard University has been arrested. He was mistaken for a criminal as he was trying to break into his own home. One of his neighbors got scared and called the police. The police showed up and there was a "Do You Know Who I Am?" moment. The good professor, one of TIME Magazine's 25 most influential Americans, was arrested for being "disorderly" and "tumultuous."
Update: Here is the police report. Professor Gates apparently gave the police a run for their money.
Another Update: Professor Gates has released a statement. Although the police report makes the whole incident sound like an episode of COPS, Mr. Gates' version reads like the minutes for a NAACP board meeting.
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There are 3 comments on "What Do You Call a Black Man With a Ph.D.?". If you'd like to leave a comment, click here to jump down to the comments entry form.
Comment #1, by Bethany ![[TypeKey Profile Page]](http://www.tayarijones.com/blog/nav-commenters.gif)
First of all, who DOESN'T love "Amos & Andrew". Secondly, my nerd might be showing, but who doesn't know Professor Gates by name? That "Do you know who I am" moment should have ended a bit more amicably, no?
July 20, 2009 05:27 PM
Comment #2, by Bethany
Hold the phone. I just read the report. Can't even. Talk right now. I wanna know how shaky the necessity to go outside the residence (so that he could be arrested for disorderly conduct in front of the audience that the police presence was responsible for assembling) sounded to everyone else!
July 20, 2009 05:39 PM
Comment #3, by Courtney Echols
Somehow, out of the digital blue, this post comes up on the first page of a Google search for "I Wanna". For real though!
@ Bethany, if you're reading Ms. Jones' blog, you're probably a major geek. The story from Sgt. Crowley is that he has worked the overnight shift for years and had never heard of the esteemed Professor Gates. For real though.
August 21, 2010 09:18 PM