Officer Suspended for Calling Henry Louis Gates a 'Jungle Monkey'

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He's not a monkey, but a beneficiary of Affirmative African-American Action.
The vast majority of AAAA's would never have received their jobs if it wasn't for the miracle of Affirmative African-American Action.

Larry Impfler of MO 2:45AM July 31, 2009

I find it hilarious that anyone is so delusional as to think a statement such as, "I treat everyone with dignity and respect" goes hand-in-hand with calling ANYONE a "jungle monkey," regardless of the color of their skin.
Calling people names is not a way to treat people respectfully.

C.A. of OR 5:51PM July 30, 2009

I will submit that I don't know "all" the facts, but based on the article, this man's comments are damning and reprehensible.
I don't know Mr. Gates. But what I know is that, as a man, he has achieved extraordinary accomplishments regardless of his race/culture/ethnicity.
The Cambridge officer that arrested Mr. Gates would not likely have know of Mr. Gates accomplishments at the time of the arrest and likely would have taken a different tact had he known.
I also suspect, based on the facts provided, that the Cambridge officer was simply responding to a burglery and arresting a belligerent man.
Gates' being the responsible, intellectual man that he is went for a "knee-jerk" reaction rather than a reasoned approach.
However, I fully presume that officer Davis was well aware of Gates' credentials since Gates' accomplishments have been highlighted in every media newstory since the arrest.
Therefore, I would presume that he is not only predjudiced but racist as well.
But,having said all that, here is the dilema blacks face. Why is it that my black friends will call each other the "N" word and find that perfectly acceptible, but if a white person had used the same word, that would have been racially insensitive and inappropriate?
I understand freedom of speech. I understand that it does not give a person license to say inflammatory comments to whomever. Freedom of speech must still have aspect of decorum and respect.
However, it is important to understand that if a race/culture/ethnic group feels certain words are inappropriate to them, then that race/culture/ethnic group has the responsibility to eliminate such words and phrases from their own vocabulary and usage before expecting others to do follow suit. You can't have your cake and eat it too.

David of ID 5:27PM July 30, 2009

Here’s yet another example of a white person clearly making a racist comment and then in the same breath claiming that what he said was not racist. This one actually uses the classic racist validation of “having black friends.” Now, either these white folks are just plain liars and refuse to own up to their hate-filled hearts or they really don’t have a clue what racism actually is. Either way, blacks and other minorities continue to suffer based on their screwed up perceptions about race.
As much as they practice it you would think they know what it is when they're doing it. This is why I believe that whites as a rule should recuse themselves from trying to appear as the gatekeepers or moderators of discussions on the topic of racism. The majority of whites agree that it still exist, but when a white person does it, they never admit to being racist. They even accused Obama of being a racist because he said "IF" the officers arrested the professor, after knowing he lived in the house in question, that they acted stupidly. What is racist about that? Didn't the police drop the charges? Sounds like Obama knew what he was speaking about. Police never drop charges when they feel they've done the right thing. Someone in the D.A.'s office had to tell these idiots you don't arrest people in their own homes for breaking in and mask it in charges of disorderly conduct.
Barrett actually gives us some insight, not only into the culture of racism that exist in this P.D., but also the attitude that the arresting officer may have felt towards blacks. Back in the day, if a black person raised his voice or continued to speak when told to shut up by a white person, it was considered insolence and would be punished by a beating or lynching. Now a days, they call it disorderly conduct if a black man speaks his mind. Just recently,there was a picture in the news where a white cop was choking a black man who stood there with his hands in the air and kept talking after the officer told him to shut his blankety-blank mouth. White Americans continue to get upset when the topic of race is raised. Why is that? Is it because they're always guilty of doing something based on racial hatred towards a certain minority group? Do they really believe it will go away if we just ignore it and not discuss it?
The fact that we are still dealing with this topic is a sad commentary on our nation. You would think after 9/11 that whites would understand that we are all Americans, who love this country and we come in every hue, religion and dialect. Different doesn't mean deficit. It just means different. We don't all have to be the same to be Americans. But we all have to love and accept one another if we plan on staying Americans. If not, one day we'll wake up ruled by some foreign enemy, who will say that they didn't defeat us from without. They just stood back and waited until we defeated ourselves from within.

Gary In Pismo Beach of CA 5:11PM July 30, 2009