Harvard Professor Playing the Race Card

A prominent university professor has Al Sharpton on the way! When Henry Louis Gates, Jr. returned from a trip a neighbor who did not recognize him thought he was breaking into the home. Apparently the door was jammed and required a heavy shoulder. Like a good neighbor, Lucia Whalen called the police to report her suspicions.

When police arrived they found Gates in his home and asked him for ID. They explained that they were responding to a report of possible break-in. Gates reportedly refused to come outside or initially provide ID, and said "Why, because I am a black man in America?" After eventually clearing up the issue upon confirmation of ID, the police were leaving; but that wasn't enough for Gates, who came outside to further berate the officers with his ranting and raving until he was finally arrested.

Allen Counter, a fellow professor stated, "We do not believe that this arrest would have happened if professor Gates was white."

To this I whole-heartedly agree. If Gates had been white, he would have shown his ID from the beginning, explaining that it was all a big mistake, that his door had been stuck. He would have thanked officers for their response and noted that it was good that neighbors stepped up to look out for one another. He would have laughed it off.

This reminds me of some Eddie Murphy material from years ago about Murphy being warned by friends about travelling to Texas - that they were racist down there! He relays his growing paranoia with the comedic story of a white airport attendent offering to take his bag and Murphy screams "what's the matter, can't a black man own a briefcase in Texas!"

Back in Cambridge, MA you just had police doing their jobs. This wasn't an episode of "driving while black" like you hear of in profiling cases. These policemen were responding to an actual call and did what they had to do to clear the matter up.

I think a certain professor has a really large chip on his shoulder. Maybe he thought about that down at the jail.