Presidential Pronouncement Premature

A commentary by Frank Dunkle

On July 16 in Cambridge, Massachusetts, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his own home in an incident that quickly became world famous. Yet, what U.S. President Barack Obama said about the arrest—and what he attempted to un-say—have become an even bigger spectacle.

The allegations

Police responded to an emergency call from a neighbor who heard that someone was forcing open a door at Professor Gates' house. There is more than one version of what exactly happened next, but it seems that the African-American professor became rather irate at being asked for identification by a European-American police officer. When Dr. Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct, questions quickly arose about racial profiling and racism in general.

The press conference

At a press conference a few days later, a reporter asked President Obama about the incident and related issues. The president's answer included the comment that the police had "acted stupidly." His offhand comment provoked a storm of protest, including a demand for an apology from the union representing Sergeant James Crowley, the principal police officer involved.

Two days after the press conference, Mr. Obama went to reporters to retract his statement. "I could have calibrated those words differently," he said. While the president did not quite apologize, he certainly took a long step back from his first position.

A vertical thinking lesson

Much of the ongoing discussion about this incident is focusing on alleged racism and police brutality. Neither of those represents vertical thinking. But there is another lesson here—one perhaps so obvious that we could take it for granted, but let's not do so.

The lesson that President Obama will almost certainly learn from this—and one that all of us should learn—is this: Find out all the facts about a situation before you make a decision, and before you criticize anyone involved. In biblical times, King Solomon of Israel was inspired to say it like this: "He who answers a matter before he hears it, it is folly and shame to him" (Proverbs 18:13).

Judging from his backtracking, the president appeared to feel a little foolish when he learned that there was more to the story of Professor Gates' arrest than he first thought. Of course, this doesn't necessarily mean that the police made no mistakes in the case, but it was certainly a mistake to jump to conclusions. That he acknowledged this and is working to make things right is to the president's credit.

Have you ever?

Have you ever had one friend tell you something terrible about another person that you know? It's natural to believe your friend and to say things about the supposed wrongdoer or even to take action against him or her. However, this is when a vertical thinker realizes that he or she has only heard one side of the story. King Solomon wrote about this, too, saying: "The first one to plead his cause seems right, until his neighbor comes and examines him" (Proverbs 18:17).

What's the value of learning this life lesson? Read "Priceless…" and I think you'll see.

We would all do well to heed the words of the ancient king—and to learn from the example of this modern president. Mr. Obama's "Beer Summit" last night with both Professor Gates and Sergeant Crowley to talk things out seems to have been a good step in defusing the situation. Hopefully they'll all give more effort to listening than to judging—and hopefully so will all of us. VT