Re the Gates affair at Harvard, why does a simple case of false arrest have to become a racial event?

it was just a case of false arrest, that happens every day, everywhere.Re the Gates affair at Harvard, why does a simple case of false arrest have to become a racial event?
Because this is America and its history is what it is. I never thought it was necessarily about race. It could just a easily be about two male egos or town vs gown strife.





Had the been the same race either of these explanations would have been considered. Once race enters the question, Americans forget everything else. We see it again and again.





See the answer below. Common sense evaporates.Re the Gates affair at Harvard, why does a simple case of false arrest have to become a racial event?
It was not a case of false arrest.





Gates broke into his own home. A vigilant neighbor saw two men breaking into Gates house and called the police.





Wouldn't you want your own neighbors to call the police if they saw someone breaking into your own house?





Anyway, the police arrived, and of course asked to see Gates' ID.


Gates gave them his Harvard ID, which isn't legal identification, and he got all bent out of shape, hysterical, swearing and abusive, which is why he was arrested.





It goes to show that although the man has enough intelligence to become a college professor, he's sadly lacking in common sense, good judgment and manners.
At first I thought the cop was in the right but as I learn about what happened the more I think the cop was wrong in his actions. Thou being yelled at is no fun and Prof. Gates did say stuff about his mama and started calling him a racist that don't mean he should have arrested him. from what I have learned Prof. Gates was on his own property and he had every right to tell the cop to leave. The fact is Prof.Gates is black and the cop did train other cops how not to be racist on the job so he should have known how this could turn out and If the Prof. told he to leave by law he should have left. But he didn't and the fact he would not go made Prof.Gates vary mad. by the time the cop came up on the scene Prof.Gates was already mad and the cop's action just pushed him over the edge. It may have made him feel 1 inch tall for letting this man talk about his momma and calling him racist but he is a cop so he should have known the law and backed off as soon as he saw Prof.Gates was getting mad. But he didn't so now he's in trouble with a lot of people.
If it was a white person in an affluent neighborhood, would the cop have illegally gone into the home and continued to harass the home owner after being shown ID?





We'll never know the answer, but people who feel that it's a race issue think that the cop wouldn't have stepped over the line if he wasn't black. Statistics tend to back that up.





Black males are more likely to get arrested or harrassed by the police than White males. White females are even less likely to get arrested.





Don't believe it? Try speeding around town a few times (if you're a white male) If you're caught will you get a ticket? Now have a woman do the same thing. Will she get a ticket? Cops have said they're less likely to give a woman a ticket as a man. They're also more likely to search a car if it's driven by a black man than a white man.
Because it was Gates who made a minor event into big event by acting like a racist fool .