Much is being said about the Cambridge, MA white police officer who has been accused of racism and "stupidity" by his "good friend," President Obama. But what's the story behind this so-called "renowned black scholar" professing at Harvard?
In order to add a little depth to the character of professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., I take you to page 67 of my 2006 thesis paper titled Political Correctness: The Historical Roots of This Tool and Its Practitioners:
The general line, as put forth by Henry Louis Gates, Jr., chairman of Afro-American Studies at Harvard, was that as America continues to be an ever more diverse society, the policies of scholastic life, heretofore constructed by white males of European ancestry, will have to be remodeled in order to represent numerous voices and interests. Gates said that contemporary university policies are based on the acknowledgment that persons of color must not be forced to homogenize themselves into “an America in cultural white face.” Gates maintained that a fresh social compact must be discussed and then institutionalized; while antagonists of political correctness have indeed pointed out a few unfortunate
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excesses, they have sidetracked attention from a noble and necessary procedure.
In order to develop an alternative canon, Gates said it was essential for black scholars to work together with feminists. “We’re allies. They need us. We need them.” He credited Women’s Studies with “paving the way for Black Studies.” Further, white feminists had elevated black authors such as Zora Neale Hurston and “created a new market for our work. We need a bigger market than just blacks. That market is white women.” Gates identified what he called “a rainbow coalition of blacks, leftists, feminists, deconstructionists, and Marxists” who had entered academia and were “ready to take control.” It would not be much longer before that day came, he predicted. “As the old guard retires,” Gates proclaimed, “we will be in charge. Then, of course, the universities will become more liberal politically.”
[FROM MY FOOTNOTE]: After presenting himself with the rhetorical question, “What is a good cause?” Gates said, “One that we believe in, of course.” In order to clarify what a good cause is, Gates stated that “Taste is morality.” Henry Louis Gates, Jr., “Cultural Equity?,” ACLS Publications, Occasional Paper No. 20.
You can now see that Gates has been dreaming of a situation like this to come to his door. Now, unfortunately, it has -- literally. And the irony is that the white police officer is defending himself against charges of racism while the black professor is hailed as a hero in the black and academic community. Strange to say the least.