Harvard University, professor Gates. Race

[Helay]

Do you think race was a factor in the arrest of the Harvard university professor Henry Louis Gates Jr? What do you think of the media coverage of the president's involvement?

[Elaine Bunbury]

I do not think race was a factor in the arrest of the Harvard university professor, Henry Louis Gates, according to new reports, stating that race was not mentioned. I believe it was introduced by others, wanting to bring race into the situation and, as usual, the media coverage, which continues without a break, making the situation worse. I believe that President Barak Obama is now attempting to correct wrong impressions and heal the problem between the Professor and the policeman for which I applaud him.

[Noah]

It appears that race was not a factor in the arrest of Dr. Gates. I do not think that it was necessary for Sgt. Crowley to arrest him though - he was in his own home, and provided his ID. Crowley arrested Gates only after he made some hostile remarks regarding racial profiling - which is protected by his First Amendment Rights. Although Dr. Gates should have tried to act more calmly in this situation, Sgt. Crowley had no just cause to arrest him. Police officers should act responsibly - even when in verbally hostile situations.

I think the media coverage of Obama's involvement is how it always seems - a bit silly and dramatic. I'll bet Obama wishes he didn't use the word "stupidly" when describing how the Camebridge Police reacted.

Hey Big O, when are you gonna invite ME for a beer?
I have a bazillion questions for you...

[Debbie Kaufman]

I don’t know enough about this to make a judgment about whether the actions of the police officer were racially motivated or not, but I do believe that this incident and its fall out are all about race generally in our society. Even if the police officer wasn’t targeting Dr. Gates specifically because of his race, Dr. Gates has probably had plenty of experiences in his life where he was the target of racist attitudes. My guess is that President Obama has had similar experiences as a Black man in the U.S., as has my daughter as a young Black woman. How many times can you be racially targeted before you start assuming racial profiling behind actions that seem unfair or aggressive? We live in a racist society. Interpreting events through a racial lens might not be fair or appropriate in every case, but I don’t think it is unreasonable given past experiences and the reality of racism in our country. Racial profiling happens in our society and that concerns me greatly, regardless of what happened at Dr. Gates' house.

My hope for this is that it will allow us to have real discussions about race and the reality of racism in our society. How great would it be if the police officer and Dr. Gates could get together for a “Story as Entry to Relationship” dialogue?! I think, though, that this dialogue is for us all, not just the parties to the focused event. Maybe we could do a collective “get together for a beer” and share stories with a person or people of another race. For me, the point is to come together as people to work against racism, rather than let racism divide us.