>>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.
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>>Actually, what I heard was that a neighbor called the police because she saw 2 black men breaking into the house - which they were. Gates had forgotten his keys. Instead of going on the offensive, Gates should have co-operated and just shown the officer his ID. If he had not gone off the deep end, the matter would have ended there. The officer was just doing his job.
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>Do "Actually" and "what I heard" belong in the same sentence? ;-)
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>Here is an article from your favorite news source.
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>http://www.foxnews.com/story/0,2933,534203,00.html
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>Could Gates have defused the whole thing by being more conciliatory? Undoubtedly so. Maybe he didn't feel like being conciliatory in his own home. Maybe the police officer was "just doing his job" but I think that's still unclear at this point. Neither of us knows what his demeanor was.

But the Messiah passed judgement - he knew.

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>Is a 60ish man with a cane the typical home burglar, regardless of the color of his skin?
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>One thing I wonder is what is the deal with this neighbor? She lives within eyesight of a world famous scholar, a Harvard professor, and doesn't recognize him? He's just "a black man"? OTOH, that definitely sounds like Boston.