>http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/07/23/police-officer-obama-butt-arrest/
>
>Nice that he supports the police (oh - sorry - a white guy - must be racist).
>
>Obviously white police should stop patrolling black neighborhoods since they are racist.

An interesting case. At first it sounded like open and shut racism / racial profiling by the policeman -- a prominent black scholar arrested in his own home for refusing to show ID. Then the other side came out, that Professor Gates had shouted at the policeman about racism. Accounts still differ about exactly what happened. It's a Rashomon for sure at this point.

Here is what I think is a pretty good link. My guess is the part at the end may be a pretty accurate take on what happened.

http://www.swamppolitics.com/news/politics/blog/2009/07/obamas_police_report_reassessm.html

Connie Rice, a black Los Angeles civil rights attorney who has played a leading role in reforming the Los Angeles Police Department, agreed that the Gates incident was not an obvious example of racial profiling.

"Racial profiling is when an officer makes a traffic stop or takes some other action based only on some bias they hold," she said.

But, she cautioned, "that does not mean that there were not racial elements to what happened."

The officer, Rice said, appeared to be acting more out of an "arrogance of power," which could be in part racially motivated. And Gates, she said, seemed to manifest what she called "Black American Princess Syndrome."

"This was the supreme humiliation for Henry Louis Gates, because he has achieved a rarefied status and the considerations that are usually afforded to him went right out the window when the officer arrested him," Rice said. "In a minute, that cop erased all that Gates has had to work through to get where he is.

"That officer was not going to back down because he had been challenged and he would look weak," she said.

"But Gates was not going to back down because that officer tripped every racial humiliation that Gates and his family have experienced since slavery."

Probably the most surprising thing to me was President Obama's reaction, responding to a question in his press conference the night before last by saying the police "acted stupidly." (He backed off from that yesterday, praising police in general and this officer specifically). That was out of character. Say what you will about his politics, he always seems cool, calm, and collected. And he avoids the issue of race as much as he can. I don't remember another time when he responded so emotionally or used such a loaded phrase. In a way it was refreshing, although I'm sure he regrets responding the way he did.