So would you say Gates has a chip on his shoulder?

That would be my guess.
I would also say the supreme leader acted stupidly.

Except for the forgiveness for 'wading in', I agree with Bahu.

'I agree with Bahu' - damn it's getting cold down here.

Let's face it accusing someone of "racism" is an effective deterrent, or device to get ones way. It worked quite well last election. I don't disagree that racism exists. I find it's use very similar to someone crying "rape". A very serious accusation, and unfortunately little consequence for it's improper use (such as the Lacrosse team incident a few years back). This makes it all much more difficult when an actual case arises.

BTW if I were the police officer involved I would have told the president, "I'll make you a deal, if you stop publicly referring to police cases without facts as "stupidly", I'll publicly stop referring to recent proposed "Stimulus and National Health Care plans" as "stupidly" ill conceived. That would have garnered some press.

He did indentify himself and showed ID that proved he lived in the house.

The matter didn't end there.  He was arrested anyway.

He has said that his neighbour did the right thing in phoning the police.

I would think it is common procedure to have the person step outside, even if their identity is proven. A bugler could easily hold a gun on the person at the door, insuring they say the "right" thing to the police. How would the dept. look if they responded then this professor was found dead a few hours later? That wasn't the case, but it could have been. Remember the cops that returned the victim back to Jeffery Dolmer custody? Personally, I'd be grateful that the cop was thorough in investigating the call, but then again I thank clerks that ask for an ID when I use a credit card.

Ye gods, Bahu and I are on the same page here.

Yes, he was arrested; for disorderly conduct. He came out into the street, where he continued his tirade, ranting and raving for no apparent reason other than to do it, and in turn he made an ass of himself.

By doing so, however, he's set himself up as something of a martyr;  "leaders" of the "black community" like Jeremiah Wright, Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton and "Calypso Louie" Farrakhan will hold this up for years to come, as just one more example of how racist a nation this really, truly is.

It's "intellectual" blacks like these, who insist upon continuing to stir the racism pot; who won't let the issue die. Like accusations of sexual harrasment or gender discrimination are to rabid feminists, it's too valuable a tool for extortion, manipulation and "deterrance" (as Nitro pointed out), for them simply let it go, and they know it.

Barry the Kenyan Socialist knows how effective a crowbar crying "race!" can be. I agree with Quinn and Rose (morning talk radio show hosts); he threw in and did what he could do to keep the pot stirred by planting a questioner in the seats. Why else would a reporter ask such a question at a press conference on health care?

I would not say it is "chip on the shoulder". I feel that Professor Gates had "profiled" the police officer and acted in a manner that tells me that he would not have acted in the same manner had the police officer been Afro-American.

Racism does exist, but as I said every encounter that is abrasive between diffewrent "races" cannot be viewed through the lens of racism.

Though Professor Gates probaby acted out of frustration and fatigue, the fact remains that he is an outstanding schoalar and teacher. And the Officer Crowley, by all accounts is a highly rated professional.

Given that Professor Gates' field is "African American Studies" I would qualify the "outstanding". African American Studies, if they are at all useful, must teach us that we should not judge based on skin colour. The professor showed by his actions that he himself has failed to grasp what he is allegedly teaching.

Here he appears to be as outstanding a scholar as an astronomist who fails to grasp the difference between astrology and science.

I am very disappointed by the "professor". I hope he was a better example for his profession in the past and will regain such past glory in the future.

I don't deny that racism exists; that's a given. I would, however, wonder if it still exists to the degree which Gates and the other, more prominent race baiters and hustlers I mentioned above insist that it does, and without their gracious assistance in keeping the fire stoked. How many blacks in this nation in, say, the last 20-25 years, have encountered blatant, real, undeniable racism? Probably not as many as one might think, and they probably wouldn't know how to react if they did.

Some time ago, there was new hire where I work; she was teamed for training with a black woman named Mary, who'd been there several years. They worked together for a few hours; the new hire was kind of cool and unreceptive. When Mary asked if everything was all right, the woman replied, nice and calm as you please, "I'm sorry, but I just don't like niggers."

Mary was dumbfounded; she burst into tears and ran into the boss's office. The woman was re-teamed, and encouraged not to show up the next day.

That's a true story, and that's racism; I wonder how many blacks get hit like that? One thing though, you have to admire the woman's courage of conviction.

"African American Studies", along with "Gay and Lesbian Studies", "Feminist Studies", whatever, is a misnomer, and one of those things universities offer to seem 'with it'. It's simply regurgitation of propaganda, and the kind of race baiting theories they'd sue for if it were directed another way. I wonder how many whites they have teaching in the dept.?

I wonder what kind of support a college would get if it offered "White Culture" classes.

Why are there African Americans but no African Jamaicans, African Cubans, African Haitians, etc? All these nations Black populations are derived from former slaves. I suppose they have come to grips with their past and reconciled with it. Yet, in the US it just can't seem to happen, despite the higher standard of living on average compared to the black population living on these islands. Or is it there is just not enough whites living there to blame their troubles on?

It would attract the same type of bigots, only white ones.

I think the solution is not to teach anything that claims that culture has anything to do with skin colour.

They can certainly teach about slavery and the culture that developed among slaves. It's a very interesting subject. But why connect it with skin colour? While there were no white slaves (in America), there were black slave owners. Those blacks where part of the so-called "white culture". I wonder if their descendants would be eligible to compensation by "whites"?

Who cares about those countries?

Haiti had it worst. If anybody deserves special privileges because of what was done to their ancestors by people long dead, it's the Haitians. But I wonder if their history is even taught prominently anywhere.

I would think those that live there care.

I do not know where to begin. First, I must say that prejudice based on the color of the skin is not conviction. I may not have found an open display of hostility in the workplace acceptable, but I know that it exists.

Try reading Professor Gates work, I am sure you will change your mind. I however maintain that he overreacted to Serajent Crowley and President Obama's beer diplomacy has virtually settled the spat.

In a multi cultural nation like USA, identity based curriculum cannot be avoided. Like you I tooam sceptical of post modernist, post colonialist gibberish that parades as literary theory.

I simply meant that she wasn't afraid to stand by what she believed, however wrong she may have been to the rest of us. That is an admirable quality, and a often rare one in the modern world.

So every time a black man is offended in some little way by a white man, they're going to get an invite to the White House for a beer and chat with the Prez? I wonder, if this were Bush doing this, would you be so approving? I'd kind of rather Obama stick to ruining (oops--sorry..that should have been "running"...I think) the country and keep out of race relations.