The Presumption of Guilt The Arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. and Race, Class and Crime in America

by Ogletree, Charles

• ISBN13: 9780230103269
• ISBN10: 023010326X
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2010-06-22
• Publisher: St. Martin's Press

Summary

Shortly after noon on Tuesday, July 16, 2009, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., MacArthur Fellow and Harvard professor, was mistakenly arrested by Cambridge police sergeant James Crowley for attempting to break into his own home. The ensuing media firestorm ignited debate across the country. The Crowley-Gates incident was a clash of absolutes, underscoring the tension between black and white, police and civilians, and the privileged and less privileged in modern America. Charles Ogletree, one of the country's foremost experts on civil rights, uses this incident as a lens through which to explore issues of race, class, and crime, with the goal of creating a more just legal system for all. Working from years of research and based on his own classes and experiences with law enforcement, the author illuminates the steps needed to embark on the long journey toward racial and legal equality for all Americans.

Author Biography

CHARLES OGLETREE is the Jesse Climenko Professor of Law at Harvard Law School and the founding and executive director of the Charles Hamilton Houston Institute for Race and Justice at the law school. He is the author of four books on race and the law, including the critically acclaimed All Deliberate Speed, and has received numerous awards and honors, including being named one of the 100+ Most Influential Black Americans by Ebony magazine. In the immediate aftermath of the Crowley-Gates incident, Ogletree acted as counsel to Professor Gates and continues to be special counsel to President Obama and advisor on police behavior to Harvard University and the City of Cambridge.

Table of Contents

Introduction: The Cop and the Professor	p. 9
"Keep the Cars Coming." What Really Happened?	p. 15
"President Obama Doesn't Like White People." The Public Reaction	p. 41
"Don't Tase Me, Bro!" How Far Have We Really Come?	p. 65
Fair Harvard? The Class Issue	p. 77
Driving while Black. Fighting Back against Racial Profiling	p. 101
Race, Class, Justice, and Post-Racial America	p. 115
Epilogue: 100 Ways to Look at a Black Man	p. 129
Acknowledgments	p. 243
Notes	p. 247
Index	p. 254
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