RACIAL PROFILING AND THE ARREST OF HENRY LOUIS GATES, JR.

Harvard’s Henry Louis Gates, Jr. attempted to enter his house after the door lock jammed. As he tried to get into his house someone called the police and reported an attempted break-in. By the time the police came Gates was in his house. He showed them his driver’s license and his Harvard ID. Despite this they arrested him for “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior” after he called the police office who was trying to arrest him for breaking into his own house a racist.

Gates, director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard, is one of the most distinguished professors at Harvard. He is the Alphonse Fletcher, Jr. University Professor. He is the recipient of almost 50 honorary degrees and numerous academic and social action awards. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1981 and was listed in Time among its “25 Most Influential Americans” in 1997. In January 2008, he co-founded The Root. In 2002 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Gates for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities.Gates has been the recipient of nearly 50 honorary degrees and numerous academic and social action awards. He was named a MacArthur Fellow in 1981 and was listed in Time among its “25 Most Influential Americans” in 1997. On October 23, 2006. In 2002 the National Endowment for the Humanities selected Gates for the Jefferson Lecture, the U.S. federal government’s highest honor for achievement in the humanities.

Gates’ arrested has started a debate about racial profiling. Here is the pre-eminent African-American scholar trying to open the jammed door to his upper class house arrested after he shows identification in response to a burglary report. I cannot imagine this happening to a White professor, This is not a post racial society. Rather it is a society where African Americans and Latinos continue to get the short end of the stick. You can go into any criminal courtroom in this country and you will note that the percentage of minorities being charged with crime exceeds by a significant percentage the percentage of minorities in the community.