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RACIAL PROFILING? WHAT RACIAL PROFILING?

Submitted by X.U.

 

You have probably heard about the incident where a black Harvard University professor, Henry Louis Gates, was arrested for breaking into his own home. When asked to provide his ID and step out of the house, Gates immediately called the arresting officer a racist and accused him of racial profiling. Inflaming the controversy was President Obama, who said, without knowledge of the facts, that the police, in arresting Gates, “acted stupidly."

You'd think someone who is a Harvard professor would have the brains to realize that the cop was only doing his job. If Gates had been smart, he would have realized that while breaking into a house you own is legal, it may not appear to be legal to others unfamiliar with you, but familiar with crime. To avoid the national controversy surrounding this issue, all Gates had to do was identify him and prove that he is indeed the owner of the house. There would not have been an arrest and no charges would have been laid. Instead, he had to scream racism, which he knew would catch the attention of the media. After all, a story of a “racist” white cop arresting an “innocent” black man is too hard for the liberal media to ignore. So, what was supposed to be a minor misunderstanding between a professor and a cop has escalated into a national argument about police racial profiling. The irony is that Sgt. James Crowley (the cop who arrested Gates) has been backed up by his co-workers (many of whom black) and has never been a race-profiler – in fact, he teaches others to eliminate it. In the end, Gates and Obama were the only ones guilty of racial profiling.

What troubles me is that in many news reports, Gates has been repeatedly described as a “respected” university professor. The truth is, having a PhD does not ensure that you are smart, but rather that you have mastered a certain subject. I think it's time for educational institutions to spend more time on common sense and civic duty, which Gates clearly lacks.

The primary reason why this incident received widespread coverage is the widespread perception by many African Americans that law enforcement is inherently biased against people of color, and also that AAs endured police racism throughout U.S. history. While I don’t deny their suffering (and no one should), for African Americans to continue to hold a grudge against whites for past wrongs is a step in the wrong direction. It’s now time to move on and join the mainstream. The fact that the Romans took over Britain and, no doubt, caused irreparable harm to some of my ancestors does not keep me awake at night and totally suspicious of the actions of Italians.

 

 

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