One could easily make the argument that getting into an ivy league has more to do with social status than it does with being more intelligent in a lot of cases.

 

So it goes back to low rent referring to someone's class in society as we discussed privately.

 

But I'm done talking about this silly topic I'm not upset . Like I said in my original post I just didn't think you understood the meaning and you didn't no big deal to me. I'm not part of intenet mafia calling for people's heads.

 

I agree with your first point and think that social status is part of getting in. I don't think it's as much of a factor in being the head of some Departments for them though. Sure, social status is probably some of it, but there are plenty of people in those positions who didn't grow up with a heck of a lot either.

 

I'm not upset either. I really didn't understand the meaning of low rent when I said it, but that doesn't mean I've reversed and am going to say the guy made a good decision.

 

Anyone can call in a complaint. If someone calls in a complaint and police come and arrested you in your own home, after you'd showed ID and the officer had then refused a lawful request to give you their badge number, then you'd probably be upset too, but that's just my guess.

 

Sorry, I don't see this as anything more than an officer who didn't "know his role" so to speak, but probably soon found out in the blowback.

 

If he wants to play detective, I'm sure there are plenty of other neighborhoods in Boston that need some, and he probably won't have to deal with people he feels are entitled in that role either.

"Broken windows are more important than broken spines."

It's ok to call someone low rent because other people have called other people bad things...I think that's the logic I'm reading here.

 

Nah, it's okay to call people out when they publicly claim to be above that when they are retaliating against you because they don't like the content of your message.

 

I may be a lot of things, but at least I can admit it.

 

Know it all? Check.

Elitist? Apparently.

Smart aleck? Definitely.

Low class? By my own admission.

 

See.

I never said it was positive. Folks are equating calling someone low rent with calling someone the N word. I never knew low rent was so degrading until today. That's what I said. Not sure how you got positivity from that.

 

Who compared the two? I missed that.

No offense, but I think it's more than fair to say that the neighborhood he lived in was an affluent part of Cambridge, which is an affluent town in and of itself.

 

Most are probably in agreement that a mistake was made to arrest a guy in his own house, especially when he and a colleague show ID. Sorry, but what lawful basis do you have to arrest someone in their own home?

 

Please... This shouldn't even be an argument. Gates made over $200K in base salary alone... in 1993. No bonuses, anything like that. He's one of the top professors at Harvard. He was previously named one of Time's 25 Most Influential Americans. I think he can afford to live in a gated community if he wants to.

 

By all means though, let's all say the cop was the voice of good reason though. It's really a pathetic stretch to act like he was in the right, but by all means, carry on. How dare anyone even question his judgement versus the word of two Harvard professors who are showing him ID, right?

 

Contrary to popular belief, making a police officer mad isn't an arrestable offense. I dunno... maybe he could have checked their ID's and moved on because one of them lived there? I mean, I'd think that's how things work, but who knows?

 

Dude wants to get the fat salary to roll around a nice neighborhood and do nothing, but can't handle the people who fund that daring to look at him wrong when he's basically harassing them? Sorry, it doesn't work like that.

 

Don't want to be around entitled people? Don't take their fat salary to patrol a gated community full of rich people. Pretty simple. I'm sure the dude and all the wisdom everyone is importing on him is doing so much better off than Gates now though, so I'm sure he's fine.

 

According to what I've read, he was not arrested inside his own home. I'm not sure why you don't read these things before you make comments about the situation. He was arrested after he stepped outside and continued to be disorderly, apparently after the Officer gave him two warnings.

 

Where did I say he couldn't afford to live in a gated community? I don't believe I did.

 

Are gated communities immune to crime? Should the Officer have ignored the complaint once he realized it was a gated community? How does this have anything to do with anything?

 

I don't care who they work for. Why do you keep mentioning it? As much of a scholar he might be, when he was initially asked to step outside he allegedly told the Sergeant,

 

"Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside"

Who compared the two? I missed that.

 

#sarcasm #hyperbole

 

Never seen so many people whine over the words "low rent."

#sarcasm #hyperbole

 

Never seen so many people whine over the words "low rent."

 

The way you worded your post made it seem like someone actually did that.

EDIT

Edited April 29, 201511 yr by halfback20
Done with the off topic discussion

I agree with your first point and think that social status is part of getting in. I don't think it's as much of a factor in being the head of some Departments for them though. Sure, social status is probably some of it, but there are plenty of people in those positions who didn't grow up with a heck of a lot either.

 

I'm not upset either. I really didn't understand the meaning of low rent when I said it, but that doesn't mean I've reversed and am going to say the guy made a good decision.

 

Anyone can call in a complaint. If someone calls in a complaint and police come and arrested you in your own home, after you'd showed ID and the officer had then refused a lawful request to give you their badge number, then you'd probably be upset too, but that's just my guess.

 

Sorry, I don't see this as anything more than an officer who didn't "know his role" so to speak, but probably soon found out in the blowback.

 

If he wants to play detective, I'm sure there are plenty of other neighborhoods in Boston that need some, and he probably won't have to deal with people he feels are entitled in that role either.

 

Son worked as a preceptor at Harvard for 5 years, teaching English literature. First job out of grad school.

 

Believe me when I say that social status didn't have a thing to do with it.

The way you worded your post made it seem like someone actually did that.

A whole bunch of whining over those two words. I took the liberty to add my perspective to the whining. Did someone actually do that? No. But with all the whining about the words low rent they may have well as made the comparison.

According to what I've read, he was not arrested inside his own home. I'm not sure why you don't read these things before you make comments about the situation. He was arrested after he stepped outside and continued to be disorderly, apparently after the Officer gave him two warnings.

 

Where did I say he couldn't afford to live in a gated community? I don't believe I did.

 

Are gated communities immune to crime? Should the Officer have ignored the complaint once he realized it was a gated community? How does this have anything to do with anything?

 

I don't care who they work for. Why do you keep mentioning it? As much of a scholar he might be, when he was initially asked to step outside he allegedly told the Sergeant,

 

"Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside"

 

Ok, we're beating a dead horse now. Officer didn't have a warrant. Gates probably didn't know someone called him in.

 

I think we're also reading conflicting reports and that there's probably a serious misunderstanding as to the lawfulness of the officer's actions, so I'll leave it at saying that I'll trust the guy with the Yale law degree over the officer, but that's just me.

 

In major cities, there are plenty of exclusive locales that form their own municipalities just so they don't have to deal with some guy fresh out of academy on a power trip. In San Antonio there are a handful of places that just serve maybe a thousand or so people in very upscale neighborhoods. Many of these places are gated with only one way in and anyone who doesn't live there has to leave an ID at the gates to enter and exit. I've only been inside the gates a time or two to go to an event at one of our Dean's houses, but trust me when I say that the perimeter of the area is very secure and is closely monitored (cameras, etc.) by very good officers who are there because they do their job well. It's actually a pretty solid deterrent to crime.

 

Sure, these places probably aren't immune to crime, but it's not exactly a high crime area either. These are rich people who pay to keep everyone out, not to let the threats into their homes.

 

I think it's fair to say that the officer could have used much better judgement and that he probably didn't understand what he was and wasn't legally allowed to do as well as Gates. It's cool if you disagree and to each his own, but I don't see why the guy arrested in his own home is the one who should come out of this whole thing looking bad. It's like the guy who takes a job at an uppity country club and complains about the bratty kids there being rude. He doesn't care to take their money, but he doesn't like their rudeness either. All good, I'm sure they probably found someone happy to replace him who'd put up with it. That's kind of a luxury of living in one of those places.

 

Agree to disagree if you want, and I'm not saying Gates handled things perfectly, but I'm beating a dead horse trying to explain myself on this one at this point.

 

Ok, we're beating a dead horse now. Officer didn't have a warrant. Gates probably didn't know someone called him in.

 

I think we're also reading conflicting reports and that there's probably a serious misunderstanding as to the lawfulness of the officer's actions, so I'll leave it at saying that I'll trust the guy with the Yale law degree over the officer, but that's just me.

 

In major cities, there are plenty of exclusive locales that form their own municipalities just so they don't have to deal with some guy fresh out of academy on a power trip. In San Antonio there are a handful of places that just serve maybe a thousand or so people in very upscale neighborhoods. Many of these places are gated with only one way in and anyone who doesn't live there has to leave an ID at the gates to enter and exit. I've only been inside the gates a time or two to go to an event at one of our Dean's houses, but trust me when I say that the perimeter of the area is very secure and is closely monitored (cameras, etc.) by very good officers who are there because they do their job well. It's actually a pretty solid deterrent to crime.

 

Sure, these places probably aren't immune to crime, but it's not exactly a high crime area either. These are rich people who pay to keep everyone out, not to let the threats into their homes.

 

I think it's fair to say that the officer could have used much better judgement and that he probably didn't understand what he was and wasn't legally allowed to do as well as Gates. It's cool if you disagree and to each his own, but I don't see why the guy arrested in his own home is the one who should come out of this whole thing looking bad. It's like the guy who takes a job at an uppity country club and complains about the bratty kids there being rude. He doesn't care to take their money, but he doesn't like their rudeness either. All good, I'm sure they probably found someone happy to replace him who'd put up with it. That's kind of a luxury of living in one of those places.

 

Agree to disagree if you want, and I'm not saying Gates handled things perfectly, but I'm beating a dead horse trying to explain myself on this one at this point.

 

Again...he wasn't arrested in his own home.

 

I think the professor with a Yale law degree, since you like mentioning it every time you talk about him, could have used better judgment.

 

He was warned twice, but still came outside yelling at the officer and apparently talking about his mama.

Yeah but you've seen the POTUS referred to in those terms and you sure weren't offended then. I thought it was funny and ironic that you were insulted by someone calling a cop a low rent goof but never seem to mind when the leader of the free world is insulted. That's what it has to do with calling someone low rent.

 

How do you know I was not offended?

 

Plain and simple, you don't.

 

Carry on.......

Nope. Let a bunch of black dudes kill some white dudes and get away with it. It'll be open season on negroes. We saw what happened when OJ got away with it. They made sure OJ didn't get away with a crime ever again.

 

Blacks dont get away with killing blacks. They either go to jail for it or they end up being killed themselves. It's the cycle. Thought you knew.

Nothing would happen? How many riots when OJ got off again? OH that's right, the white man conspired to set him up for robbery 13 years later.

According to what I've read, he was not arrested inside his own home. I'm not sure why you don't read these things before you make comments about the situation. He was arrested after he stepped outside and continued to be disorderly, apparently after the Officer gave him two warnings.

 

Where did I say he couldn't afford to live in a gated community? I don't believe I did.

 

Are gated communities immune to crime? Should the Officer have ignored the complaint once he realized it was a gated community? How does this have anything to do with anything?

 

I don't care who they work for. Why do you keep mentioning it? As much of a scholar he might be, when he was initially asked to step outside he allegedly told the Sergeant,

 

"Ya, I'll speak with your mama outside"

 

A reading of the actual police report is very helpful. Gates was a (jerk).

Edited April 29, 201511 yr by bugatti