Part 3: The Gates-gate affair, as a media race event, became explicitly political when Obama weighed in. His comment on the Gates arrest came at the end of a long and detailed news conference on health care reform. Asked what he thought about the arrest, The New York Times reported that:
“Mr. Obama took it [the question] head on, noting that “I may be a little biased” because he is friends with Mr. Gates but condemning the police in Cambridge, Mass.
He said: “I think it’s fair to say, No. 1, any of us would be pretty angry. No. 2, the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And No. 3, what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by police disproportionately. That’s just a fact.”
Obama admitted that he did not know all the facts in the case and he explicitly did not accuse anyone of racial bias, but the implication was there for all to comment on, and they did.
The debate intensified. It started with the arrest and was a continuation of an ongoing theme: dealing with the problems of race in America, including the very different perceptions of the problem across the population. Those with clear positions presented them forcefully, and they were joined by the beltway pundits who commented on the practical implications of the response, without much reference to the normative issues involved. (link) Obama backtracked recognizing that he had inflamed the situation by calling the Cambridge police actions stupid, and he invited Crowley and Gates for a beer at the White House to diffuse the situation, which it did.
Another moment in the continuing struggle to talk about the problems of race and American democracy passed. But this one was different, having to do with the fundamental issue of political culture: the relationship between culture and power. Things were turned around, a revolution of sorts was apparent. This was the first time that such an issue occurred with a black President.
Commentators noted that Obama made a big mistake by offering his opinion on the matter, as one put it, speaking more as a person than as a President. Among these observers, there seemed to be a general consensus that Obama’s statement was a mistake. His intervention undermined his attempts to enact healthcare reform. He was getting involved with a local issue, best left alone by the head of state. He got involved even as he admitted to not having all the facts at his disposal. Obama and his advisors did have second thoughts about what he said.
Yet, President Obama had no choice but to get involved. He was asked a direct question at a press conference. Not to respond with a direct answer would have appeared as overly calculating, open to a range of undesirable interpretations. Perhaps political pundits, the professional insiders and the commentators, would have approved of the pragmatism, applauding his decision to stay on the central message of the conference, the need for healthcare reform. But in the long run, beyond such media commentary, there would be the real danger that Obama would have been criticized for compromising fundamental principle.
Much was made of the forcefulness of Obama’s statement, but in fact it was circumspect. He indicated a suspicion that the event was part of the long story of racism, but he did not criticize it as such. He called the action stupid, but he did not condemn it as a moral outrage. A President who was not African American would not have been asked about the Gates Affair. An African American President once asked about the affair had to answer. Staying within his fundamental project of expanding the American Dream by addressing the American dilemma, a fundamental theme of his election, the President had to be open and clear about his position, while recognizing the complexities.
This was the voice of official power, a fundamental change in the political culture. Those who dissented from his vision attacked his intervention. Those focused on the politics of the news cycle questioned its wisdom. But racial politics have been thus transformed. The terrain has been reordered. At the time, just about no commentator thought Obama did the right thing when he spoke up. Now, in retrospect, a year after the fact, it seems to me it is clear. He did the right thing.
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