My first thought when I heard of the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr., was "racial profiling." Not because I distrust the police department, nor have any automatic accusation of racism ready every time something bad happens to a person of color. But the fact is, racial profiling happens, and happens often. Just speaking of people I know: A friend who matched the description (black) of someone who had stolen a Cadillac (his own) was arrested and spent a night of jail. He had his license, title, and registration in hand but that still wasn't enough. Hundreds of times I've seen people stopped and their car searched, their hands cuffed. But they get released without a ticket or citation. My point is, I frequently see racial profiling happen. But as more details were released about the arrest, I began to change my mind. President Obama was asked about it, and said the following:
"But I think it's fair to say, number one, any of us would be pretty angry. number two, that the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home. And number three -- what I think we know separate and apart from this incident -- is that there is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately, and that's just a fact."
He spoke without the facts; here they are.
Officer James Crowley was investigating a report of a break-in. He had no idea whose house this was, and when he arrived, saw Gates inside. He asked for ID (standard procedure in that particular situation) and Gates immediately began calling him a racist and making cracks about "your mama." He refused to show identification, so Mr. Crowley arrested him for disorderly conduct. The officer was on scene with an African-American officer as well as an officer of Hispanic descent. A rather diverse team, in my opinion. Both are supporting his story and the way he handled the confrontation.
Gates was wrong, plain and simple. Had he shown ID when the officer arrived and said "Well, I just was breaking in because my door was jammed. This is my house. Here's proof," he would not have been arrested. Now, we have the President of the United States calling the police stupid during a press conference on health care.
Let's not ignore the fact: Racial profiling happens, and happens often. But Gates' arrest was not racial profiling, and his calling it such racism.
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