- Home
- Editorial and Opinion
- PUBLISHER'S ANALYSIS: Black in American-Still
PUBLISHER'S ANALYSIS: Black in American-Still
- By Roy Douglas Malonson
- Published 07/27/2009
- Editorial and Opinion
- Unrated
Roy Douglas Malonson
Roy D. Malonson is publisher of the African-American News&Issues.
View all articles by Roy Douglas Malonson
For many Americans, Harvard University is the epitome of education. At age 373, it is the oldest institution of higher learning in the United States. W.E.B. DuBois, has the distinction of being the first Black to earn a doctorate at Harvard.
According to Marques J. Redd and Kiratiana Freelon, who wrote the Black Guide to Life at Harvard, “in the late 19th century, he was one of 25 Blacks at the university. With campus housing reserved for Whites, the man who went on to become the country’s leading Black intellectual went to live with a Black resident of Cambridge.” Fast-forward to 2009 and we see that about 8 percent of the 6,650 undergraduates at the college are Black.
The most well-known Black student is President Barack Obama who attended Harvard Law School, (J.D. ’91). In 1990, he was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, the first African-American to do so.
Henry Louis Gates’ 1,052-word biography on the WEB Dubois Institute for African and African American Research’s Web site at Harvard University is filled with rich accomplishments and an unparalleled legacy, including a M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from Clare College at the University of Cambridge, and B.A. summa cum laude in History from Yale University, where he was a Scholar of the House, in 1973. He taught at Yale, Cornell, and Duke Universities.
His achievements include a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential Americans” list, the Jefferson Lecture, the Jay B. Hubbell Award for Lifetime Achievement in American Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association, and the Let’s Do It Better Award from of the Columbia University School of Journalism for “African-American Lives.”
He has received nearly 50 honorary degrees at top flight universities. But none of that matters because on July 16, the nation’s pre-eminent Black scholar, was arrested while trying to open the jammed front door of his home not far from the university. The police were called to the home after a neighbor reported seeing a man “wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open.” Across America, like on most things involving race, Black people see it as being racist and White people see it as “an angry Black man” using the race card.
A post by Walter Issac says it best. “Many people have blamed Dr. Gates’ behavior for being arrested. But in America, there is no law against becoming agitated, particularly when one is accused of being a robber and thief in one’s own home. The police officer, once having established Dr. Gates’ identity ... should have immediately apologized and left the residence, regardless of Gates’ mood at the time. ... He wasn’t stealing anything or causing destruction to anything or anyone. What is “disorderly conduct,” after all? ... should be angry and upset when others falsely accuse them of trespassing on their own property. As for the police officer, I think his error is understandable. He was, after all, reporting to the scene out of obligation to job and community. The police department and prosecutor, therefore, were absolutely right to drop the charges against Dr. Gates... And lest I be misunderstood, Dr. Gates was absolutely right to be angry and outraged.”
Now matter how much access people think I have—from the mayor’s office to the White House— not a day goes by that I’m not reminded who I am. I’ve been at functions with my wife which cost $1,000 to $10,000 just to sit down for dinner and I always have to qualify myself. Even President Obama, the most powerful man in the world, having won the title of “America’s First Black President,” has discovered that there are still those who will always let him know that he is “Black in America—Still.”
According to Marques J. Redd and Kiratiana Freelon, who wrote the Black Guide to Life at Harvard, “in the late 19th century, he was one of 25 Blacks at the university. With campus housing reserved for Whites, the man who went on to become the country’s leading Black intellectual went to live with a Black resident of Cambridge.” Fast-forward to 2009 and we see that about 8 percent of the 6,650 undergraduates at the college are Black.
The most well-known Black student is President Barack Obama who attended Harvard Law School, (J.D. ’91). In 1990, he was elected president of the Harvard Law Review, the first African-American to do so.
Henry Louis Gates’ 1,052-word biography on the WEB Dubois Institute for African and African American Research’s Web site at Harvard University is filled with rich accomplishments and an unparalleled legacy, including a M.A. and Ph.D. in English literature from Clare College at the University of Cambridge, and B.A. summa cum laude in History from Yale University, where he was a Scholar of the House, in 1973. He taught at Yale, Cornell, and Duke Universities.
His achievements include a MacArthur Foundation “genius grant,” Time magazine’s “25 Most Influential Americans” list, the Jefferson Lecture, the Jay B. Hubbell Award for Lifetime Achievement in American Literary Studies from the Modern Language Association, and the Let’s Do It Better Award from of the Columbia University School of Journalism for “African-American Lives.”
He has received nearly 50 honorary degrees at top flight universities. But none of that matters because on July 16, the nation’s pre-eminent Black scholar, was arrested while trying to open the jammed front door of his home not far from the university. The police were called to the home after a neighbor reported seeing a man “wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open.” Across America, like on most things involving race, Black people see it as being racist and White people see it as “an angry Black man” using the race card.
A post by Walter Issac says it best. “Many people have blamed Dr. Gates’ behavior for being arrested. But in America, there is no law against becoming agitated, particularly when one is accused of being a robber and thief in one’s own home. The police officer, once having established Dr. Gates’ identity ... should have immediately apologized and left the residence, regardless of Gates’ mood at the time. ... He wasn’t stealing anything or causing destruction to anything or anyone. What is “disorderly conduct,” after all? ... should be angry and upset when others falsely accuse them of trespassing on their own property. As for the police officer, I think his error is understandable. He was, after all, reporting to the scene out of obligation to job and community. The police department and prosecutor, therefore, were absolutely right to drop the charges against Dr. Gates... And lest I be misunderstood, Dr. Gates was absolutely right to be angry and outraged.”
Now matter how much access people think I have—from the mayor’s office to the White House— not a day goes by that I’m not reminded who I am. I’ve been at functions with my wife which cost $1,000 to $10,000 just to sit down for dinner and I always have to qualify myself. Even President Obama, the most powerful man in the world, having won the title of “America’s First Black President,” has discovered that there are still those who will always let him know that he is “Black in America—Still.”