A Teaching Moment?

By John W. Lillpop

President Obama, in a predictable, but feeble, attempt to reboot his tattered image as healer of racial discord, has decided that a straightforward, put this matter to bed apology to Sgt. James Crowley is not appropriate.

Sgt. Crowley is the police officer who arrested Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his own home based on a 911 call and other evidence of a break in at the home.

President Obama set off a firestorm when he described the arrest of Gates as"stupid," even though he admitted to not knowing the facts involved and disclosed a possible bias on his part because Gates "is a friend," whom is also black.

With his leftist spin doctors and race peddlers working 24/7 since Obama's foolish comment, a new strategy has emerged: Let's exploit this widely covered story as a "teaching moment."

Just what lessons would Barack Obama and Henry Louis Gates Jr. propose?

How about something like this?


* Police officers must always be mindful that people of color have suffered centuries of abuse and discrimination and are entitled to special treatment.

* The notion that America is color blind when it comes to law and order is an old school myth that must be dismissed and replaced with the modern credo which holds that a person of color is automatically entitled to be treated differently in crime situations.

* In the Gates arrest, before handcuffing what appeared to be a burglar, Crowley should have noticed that Gates was a person of color and thus exempt from handcuffing and other degrading painful reminders of the chains that were used to contain Gates' great grandfather while being shipped to America as a slave.

* Rather than automatically assuming that the owner of an upscale property that had been broken into was Caucasian, Sgt. Crowley should have assumed that Gates was the rightful owner because he is a person of color.

* The fact that a professional police officer was suspicious of Gates because evidence suggested that Gates appeared to be involved in a crime is unconstitutional.

* Rather, Sgt. Crowley's first thought should have been about leaky ships loaded with black, handcuffed prisoners on their way to Alabama to serve as slaves.

Crowley should have shown empathy for Gates and should have offered the professor a cigarette and a cup of coffee. Instead of handcuffs.

The new golden rule in law enforcement: People of color must be assumed to be innocent as a result of their heritage and their ancestors suffering at the hands of slavery, Jim Crow laws, discrimination, and the like dished out by wicked white folks. Evidence is irrelevant because of the rampant racism that exists in white people like Sgt. Crowley.

Bottom Line: Do not arrest or even suspect a person of color of any crime regardless of the evidence.

Can the American people just say no to this "teaching moment" garbage?