Enough About Henry Louis Gates

Six days into the controversy surrounding Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates' arrest, I'm dumbfounded by how strongly it's persisted. More interesting than the actual content, though, are people's responses to it. The incident itself -- at its start, at least -- wasn't racial in nature, but almost everything about the cottage industry of commentary that's sprung up around it is. More specifically, it's about what one thinks of police officers.

From reading and listening to responses, those who hold the police sergeant blameless believe officers can do no wrong. Those who think Gates' protests are merited -- or those, like myself, who view this in shades of puzzled gray -- are much more skeptical of the police. Obviously, the first group is nearly all white. They live in the suburbs or at least relatively peaceful neighborhoods where officers serve as the gentle reminder of law and order, which rarely has to be enforced. Their implied presence controls the situation. Furthermore, most officers, including those in city departments, are white. The latter group is obviously multiracial. They've seen people of their races arrested and imprisoned more often, and police officers be overly and unfairly aggressive with people of their races more often.

The idea that officers only work/exist to protect the public good is dubious. Like many people in every profession, they become hardened from years of doing the job and fall into patterns of behavior and action. Two black men pulled over in a car are going to yield heightened tension, more cruisers and more background checks, compared to two white men in the same situation.

It's surprising that people were so upset that President Obama chose to articulate this historical truism. Many, including myself, don't understand the situation because we're white, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. On a federal, institutional level, it's always disappointing that people aren't willing to review their past and think critically about how it affects us today. This isn't only true of the U.S.; Spain and Chile quickly come to mind. Instead, we say, "OK, that era's passed. Glad it's over. We're so different now and won't let it at all influence our thinking today. No need to act like past X years happened."