I would suppose that the first thought for some Americans when hearing “Gates” and “Harvard” in the same breath would be to think, “Didn’t Bill Gates drop out of Harvard?” But the talk of the town today is the imbroglio surrounding the arrest last week of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates. The disorderly conduct charge was quickly dropped. The arrest report is available at The Smoking Gun.
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/archive/years/2009/0723092gates1.html
This story is such a big deal here in greater Boston that I’ll weigh in with a few points.
- I don’t think it’s the job of police to know who every “somebody” is in their town. In fact, it’s better that they don’t know.
- President Obama, after saying “”Skip” Gates is a friend, so I may be a little biased here. I don’t know all the facts,” should not have said “that the Cambridge Police acted stupidly.”
- I think Gates should have stopped making reckless accusations of racism against Cambridge Police Sgt. James Crowley, and when he didn’t I think Crowley should have let it drop.
- If Gates pursues a lawsuit against Crowley, I wouldn’t be surprised if Crowley sues Gates for slander.
- I would like to see Gates and Crowley appear together, shake hands, and say the whole thing ends then and there. Neither has to apologize personally, other than to say they’re sorry it happened, and leave it at that.
