Professor Gates and the Quiet Negro

Once I was on the faculty of a major midwestern university. It's where I first came to understand the Louis Gates phenomena.

I was assigned to a search committee to fill an open spot for the position of professor of journalism. There were three candidates. One an Asian from the West, an African American from the South and a Caucasian from the West.

I was the only African American on the Search Committee and I recall the open discussion of tilting the selection to further the goal of diversity. This is what happened.

The Asian was very hostile. It was shocking. We later learned he had no intention of leaving his own university ... he just wanted a free trip to see for himself what all the fuss was about the lofty reputation our school had in journalism education. Though he openly disparaged members of the faculty he still was judged a viable candidate. I wanted to punch him out and said so.

The Black guy had imposing credentials. But when we asked him questions he seemed to button up like a candidate for U.S. Supreme Court. Even our ad hoc Black Caucus could not pry anything out of him.

I remember asking the Black candidate what his philosophy of news was. He said, "Well, I like sports."

As a newshound it could not have sounded more strange than if he said " I like knitting".

Either this guy was an idiot or the most cagey applicant in the tradition of Bid Whist or Poker ... Keep your cards clost to the vest. .

The White candidate also had imposing credentials. He treated the committee and everyone he met with respect. He clearly wanted the job and pursued it. He had a dazzling answer to my question about news. In other words he won my vote.

Yet in our search committee deliberations I was astounded at the tortured logic that put the White guy out of the running. In the end no one was picked and the search was thrown open again.

There is a lot that can be said about this sample of 1990's hiring philosophy. I leave that up to your interpretation

But I have come to see that the Black Candidate's strategy was more mired in White low expectations about diversity than it ever could be free to match Lofty Black expectations of merit.

And that my friends is my analysis of the Henry Gates affair.
Sent from my Verizon Wireless BlackBerry