< Back to front page Text size +

Getting to yes: What would it take for Gates, Crowley to shake hands

July 24, 2009 08:30 AM

Cambridge is at the center of a national debate on racial conflict following the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. by a Cambridge police officer. But the city is also known as a hub for some of the world's experts on conflict resolution. We asked one of them, professor Robert H. Mnookin, chairman of Harvard's Program on Negotiation, for his thoughts.

Q: In the interest of healing the city, what is the best course toward a resolution between Henry Louis Gates and Sergeant James M. Crowley?

mnookin072409.jpg Mnookin
Mnookin: What I think would be interesting, and perhaps useful, is if they really sat down as two people, as two human beings. If they were both interested in exploring, what had happened, how did this happen, what impact did it have on each of them; that I think would be perhaps valuable. ...What would be interesting on a human level to see is if they would each be willing to try to listen to each other and see the world from the other person’s perspective, without letting go of their own perspective.

Q: Pride seems like an insurmountable obstacle sometimes. On one hand, you have a black man who has withstood taunts from other blacks for working with The Man and achieving success in mainstream society. On the other hand, you've got an officer who is sworn to uphold civil society, dealing with, in his mind, someone who is being decidedly uncivil. How do you get both sides to admit they maybe went too far?

Mnookin: What I would ask each is if they would find it valuable to have an opportunity to really explain to the other person their perspective, to really make it clear what their perspective is, and as part of that, would they be willing to take in the perspective of the other.

Q: Do the issues of race or ethnicity complicate negotiations? How does it change things here?

Mnookin: Well, they always do. Everyone brings to any conflict their own background and perspective.

Q: Many people will offer to mediate. State Senator Anthony Gallucio has proposed a sit-down, and who knows, could Larry King or Desmond Tutu step into the mix? What kind of characteristics does a moderator need?

Mnookin: I think the main characteristic is that it would have to be someone that is acceptable to both. I would hope it would be someone who is sensitive and sophisticated, and is credible to both. ... I think someone like Larry King would be absurd. This is something that should be best done privately, not publicly. You don’t want this to be a public circus and you don’t want anyone grandstanding.

Q: Deadlines. Do they work? Would this take repeated sessions, be drawn out over weeks, or could it be done over one weekend, one meeting?

Mnookin: If they wanted to have more than one session, that’d be fine, but I wouldn’t anticipate that.

Q: Is there hope for a clean resolution?

Mnookin: I certainly think there is hope that professor Gates and this officer could sit down together and have a constructive conversation where they each came to understand better the perspective of the other -- and themselves.

E-mail this article

Invalid email address
Invalid email address

Sending your article

Your article has been sent.

Sounding Off

Columnist Kevin Cullen says that if state lawmakers are kicking back, so should he. Read more
.
TALK TO US
breakingnews@globe.com | Twitter | 617-929-3100

Editor's Choice

Old Boston, new ways

Old Boston, new ways

With membership down, the Athenaeum markets itself to younger set.
Delivering only pain

Delivering only pain

Immigrants say goods they paid to have shipped to their native countries never arrive.
MORE

From Today's Globe

MORE BLOGS

White Coat notes
Overweight men with prostate cancer have a higher risk of dying Men who are overweight when they have locally advanced prostate...
Articles of Faith
Questions on Communion and swine flu The big news of the week on the Boston religious...
A report on people from Boston who are making an impact in the world, and on people from abroad doing noteworthy things here.
Mapendo (and Dukakis) draw crowd for refugee event Rose Mapendo, the Congolese refugee for whom Mapendo International draws...
Bridges planned to connect Boston's green spaces By Peter DeMarco It was touted as the Big...
archives

LOCAL BLOGS

BOSTON AREA

Universal Hub

A collection of writing from hundreds of Boston-area bloggers.

The Chinatown Blog

Stories and events related to Boston's Chinatown and the Asian American community in Massachusetts

CommonWealth Magazine

Politics, ideas, and civic life in Massachusetts

Red Mass Group

News and commentary about Massachusetts and beyond

Blue Mass Group

Politics in Massachusetts and around the nation

Boston 1775

History, analysis, and unabashed gossip about the start of the American Revolution.
COLLEGE NEWSPAPER SITES

The Berkeley Beacon

The weekly student newspaper at Emerson College

The Daily Collegian

The student newspaper of UMass-Amherst.

The Daily Free Press

The independent student newspaper at Boston University

The Harvard Crimson

The nation's oldest continuously published daily college newspaper.

The Heights

The independent student newspaper of Boston College

The Huntington News

The independent student newspaper of Northeastern University

The Suffolk Voice

Suffolk University's student-run 24-hour online news resource

The Tech

MIT's oldest and largest newspaper

The Tufts Daily

The independent student newspaper of Tufts University