Another Issue of Stereotyping; Racial Profiling

In today's Boston Globe, July 21, 2009, we have what on the face of it is a sorry case of profiling against a well known and respected Harvard professor who happens to be black. He was approached by an officer who received a call about a ""wedging his shoulder into the front door as to pry the door open,"

Also according to the police report, Professor Gates failed to identify himself when requested and called the officer a "racist" and made comments of "this is what happens to black men in America". As a result of his lack of cooperation, Professor Gates was arrested for disorderly conduct described as "loud and tumultuous behavior."Depending on your view, one could see the officer as simply responding to a call of suspicious activity, or, you could assume it is racial because Professor Gates is black. Only God knows the whole truth.

According to the article and my own knowledge of previous similar instances, it is not surprising that this could happen. On the other hand, the officer was responding to a call and Professor Gates was at his door trying to open it. The person filing the complaint had to be close enough to see that he was using his shoulder and you may wonder, in an upscale neighborhood with a prominent Harvard Professor as a neighbor that the neighbor would recognize. We may never know.

We may never know what would have happened if anything if Professor Gates were white; the neighbor probably would have greeted him instead of calling the police. What we do know is that if an officer asks you to identify yourself, he has every eight to do so.

As an intelligent and highly educated man, one would think that it would have been easier to simply identify yourself as requested, and it would have all ended there. It is not much different that a routine traffic stop. Now it has escalated into a racial incident with, he said he said.

update:

Reading an article by BabylonSista "Two sides to every story: The Gates Incident, she writes that the neighbor was a white woman named Lucia Whalen, a fundraiser for Harvard Magazine reported "two black males with backpacks on the porch of a nearby house: "...her suspicions were aroused when she observed one of the men wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry."

With these details, it sure smells like racism, especially when you read the language Professor Gates allegedly used against the officer, but it does not justify the reactions of Professor Gates, who actually had some control of the outcome by simply identifying himself than make the complaint.

http://www.boston.com/news/education/higher/articles/2009/07/21/racial_talk_swirls_with_gates_arrest/

http://www.dailykos.com/storyonly/2009/7/20/755684/-Two-Sides-to-Every-Story:-The-Gates-Incident-%28updated%29