As many of you have probably heard over the past couple of days, Henry Louis Gates, a respected Harvard faculty member was arrested from his home in Cambridge Massachusetts for disorderly conduct. President Obama, who’s a good friend of Gates’, defended him by saying that the Cambridge police officer Sgt. James Crowley, who arrested Gates, acted stupidly in the situation.
White House Spokesman Robert Gibbs went on to defend Obama’s remarks saying that ” It was clear Gates wasn’t a burglary suspect. At that point, cooler heads on all sides should have prevailed.” In my opinion, President Obama made a fair claim. He didn’t accuse the officer of racism, he just said that arresting a man in his own home after he shows you his ID is stupid. Plain and simple.
President Obama went on to say that it is a fact that African Americans and Hispanics are racially profiled more often than Caucasians. He believes that with better training and less bias, local authorities would be able to improve this number, making it fair for everyone.
i agree – pretending that there is not a history of police bias against hispanic and african american communities is simple ignorance. learn the truth folks.