The Gates are Open

A series of unfortunate events occurred in the United States in the last couple of weeks: a jammed door, an emergency call, a huge misunderstanding, an accusation, an arrest, and some really terrible statements to the press.

I am referring, of course, to the arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis “Skip” Gates, Jr. last month in Cambridge, Massachusetts.

Gates, arriving home from China, found his door jammed. He and a friend had to use their shoulders to force their way into the house.

A 911 emergency call followed. The woman who called told police that she could not see if they had a key, but two men used force to enter the house and had suitcases.

Sgt. Crowley was the first to arrive on the scene. When he arrived, he asked Gates to show identification proving that he was the resident of 17 Ware Street.

This is the most questionable bit: the argument. Sometime in the course of events, Gates accused Sgt. Crowley of racial profiling. Gates had his say loudly enough for Crowley to charge Gates with disorderly conduct.

The charges were dropped the following week.

But the story is not that simple.

Of course, a reporter asked President Obama about the situation. Obama answered too quickly and without all the facts. Obama accused the Cambridge police of “acting stupidly”.

His remarks are not wholly without merit. The history of race and police work in the United States is grim. Racial profiling is still a widely-practiced policy, even if not written in the books.

However, Sgt. Crowley teaches a class on avoiding racial profiling and how to deal with sticky race situations. He would, theoretically, be the person in the department least likely to accuse someone based on race or ethnic background.

On the other hand, ‘Skip’ Gates, who I have met, is an intelligent and widely respected Harvard professor. I doubt he would have accused a police officer of racial profiling without a good reason.

President Obama later amended his statements, but did not retract the previous comments. He stated that Crowley and Gates both “overreacted” and that “cooler heads should have prevailed”.

That sounds more reasonable. That is the statement he should have given at the beginning.

To smooth things over, Obama invited both men to have beer with him and Vice-President Biden in the White House. I think this was an attempt to bring closure to the news outbreak. With Obama pushing his health care agenda, this story about Gates only serves as a temporary distraction. The media focused on the Cambridge row and not on Congressmen trying to filibuster the health care bill.

Still, taking the “beer summit” as a serious discussion on race, at least everyone is headed in the right direction. Regardless of its significance against Obama’s economic challenges, the matter of racial profiling demands our attention.

The place to begin with changing race relations is dialogue. Even the end of slavery began with heated discussions drawn out over several years.

Interestingly, Crowley and Gates are making plans for lunch. I suspect they will find a few cameras watching them.