The rage of the privileged class

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested in his home this week after police responded to a call about a man breaking into a house. That man breaking into a home was Gates breaking into his own house. This incident has led to an outcry from many about racial profiling by police.

The thing is I do not believe this incident adequately represents racial profiling. The officer approached Gates not because of his race, but because of a specific report of someone breaking into a house. This we cannot fault the officer for.

Gates identified himself and produced evidence that he was in his own home, the problems started after this. Apparently Gates got belligerent with the officer which then led to the officer arresting him for disorderly conduct. The complaint is that the officer would not have arrested Gates had he been a white man getting belligerent with him. There is a certain deference that is expected from black men that is not expected from white men--this I do believe.

An unasked question, however, is would Gates have reacted the way that he did if the officer had been black? Certainly both parties brought racial "baggage" to the encounter, which contributed to the unfortunate escalation and then the ridiculous arrest. I am very clear that I react differently to white folks than I do black folks. In fact a white and black person can have the same position on an issue and it is completely possible that I will interpret their positions differently. It is possible that Gates could have fallen into the same sort of behavior.

I have not been as animated as others about this incident because I do not believe it really goes to the issue of racial profiling, which is quite real. My fear is that the Gates arrest will become more about Skip Gates and his status as a Harvard Professor who went through this, than the issue itself.