Let me begin by asking a question? When does a Police Officer's job end? The established facts are that Professor Gates and his driver were returning to the professor home in Cambridge, Mass. The Professor forgot his keys and played with the door to get in. A neighbor then called the Police because she thought someone was breaking in. OK no problem.
But, when the Police arrive they ask the Professor to come outside and he shows the Officer identification. The identification clearly proved that he lives in the home. In my opinion the officers job was completed when the professor provided identification.
The Officer does not thank the professor and let him go back in his home. Instead the officer places Professor Gates under arrest for disorderly conduct. I am not buying it.
The officer arrested the Professor because he is a successful, and intelligent black male who did not fit the profile that the Officer was used to. Professor Gates did not have any warrants and was not afraid of the officer. And why should he have been, he was in his own home.
So the officer humiliates Professor Gates by arresting him for disorderly conduct and later drops the charges. But the lesson to Professor Gates and millions of African-Americans has already been administered. Malcolm X said it best "What does the white man call a black man with a PHD?" "A Nigger". The officer who has said he will not be apologizing was clearly trying to send the Harvard Professor a message. African-Americans are not welcomed in Cambridge.
President Obama said it best, "the Cambridge Police Department acted stupidly" in their handling of the situation. I am so appreciative that we finally have an African-American President who is not afraid to say exactly what most African-Americans are thinking.
The officer should resign. In my opinion any officer who can't see beyond his or her preconcieved ideas is clearly in the wrong profession.
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