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"Skip" skips out on his people... "Gates is a Liar!!!" chanted members of
CEMOTAP in the lobby of Dr. Henry Louis "Skip" Gates' office building at
Harvard University.

(Cambridge, MA-Feb11, 2000)  Harvard University Professor Dr. Henry Louis
"Skip" Gates, Jr. was publicly accused of being a liar by over 30 people
representing CEMOTAP protesting his inaccurate portrayal of Africans in
the BBC funded documentary series, "Wonders of the African World," which
aired in October, 1999. The Committee to Eliminate Media Offensive to
African People (CEMOTAP) rode by bus from New York to meet with Dr. Gates in
Cambridge.
     The grassroots organization, protested briefly in the lobby of the
Barker Center at Harvard by chanting "Gates is a Liar!"   Angered that
their meeting was scheduled a month in advance and confirmed in writing by Dr.
Gates and that he stood them up, by leaving minutes before their arrival.  His
permanent assistant asked, "Didn't you see him on his way out?"
     Betty Dopson, Co-Chair of CEMOTAP, stated that, "Skip" Gates can
appear in front of BBC cameras in a documentary to state grossly
inaccurate information about Africa and African people, but when it comes
time to talk with his own people, "Skip" skips out!"  The over ten year old
organization joins Black historians, scholars and individuals in
denouncing Gates as an "intellectual fraud" and stated their outrage at the
misinformation and stereotypes scattered throughout the $50 million dollar BBC
funded series.
     In an open letter addressed to "Henry 'Skip the Facts' Gates," some
of CEMOTAP's demands are that "Dr. Gates be drummed out of Harvard for his
attack on Africans; his authority to speak about history is questioned as
he is not a historian or an anthropologist, but a professor of English
Literature; and that Dr. Gates publicly admit to the inclusion of
misinformation in his documentary and provide written
retractions."  Trepidation was expressed over "Wonders of the African World,"
being used in the public school curriculum nationally.
     CEMOTAP Co-Chair James C. McIntosh, M.D. stated that Henry Louis is
"Skip the Facts Gates," "Skip the College Gates," and we hope to make him one
day Henry "Skip the Country" Gates.  CEMOTAP Co-chair Betty Dopson, vowed to
"return to Harvard again and again until, Dr. Gates can find the courage to
face them and have a conversation."  Dr. Gates' administrative assistant
stated that a scheduling conflict kept Dr. Gates from keeping the
appointment.  Dr. Gates had the letter for over a month regarding the
appointment and allegedly Harvard President Neil Rudenstine advised him
to respond.

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