He said, He said

As we all know, there is always two sides to a story and then the TRUTH. I wonder if I, and anyone else will ever know the true details of exactly what went on that day between Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., and Cambridge police officer Sgt. James Crowley. Before I discuss my opinions and thoughts, I want to state that this was an unfortunate incident due to the sensitive issue of "race" being involved. Depending on what story to believe, I do not condemn the behavior of the officer arresting Gates. It is not a crime to yell at a police officer. When a individual starts questioning a police officer, his/her's ego and "power of authority" over the person is questioned. This is why sometimes police officers overreact and arrest people for no apparent reason. This is probably the case with Sgt. James Crowley. However, if you believe the officer's story, I just wish that the Professor would have cooperated with the officer instead of going off on a tirade and putting the officer in a awkward situation which led to his arrest. Instead of race being the central issue, I strongly believe this is a case where two men overreacted when their egos were challenged.

So I would be curious to know if this incident would be such an major issue if there was a black officer involved or vice versa if a white professor was involved. My feeling is that if a black police officer was involved, Professor Gates would have used the "Harvard Elitist" card and said, "Do you know who I am, I am a Professor at Harvard University. This house is paid for by the college." I just think that Professor Gates was opposed to any police officer (regardless of race) showing up at his front step and telling him to step out. Personally, I would wonder why a cop is asking me to step out of my own house without reason. Depending on if the cop explained the situation clearly or not, I would probably act hostile towards the cop also.

Since there was a white officer involved, Professor Gates used the "race" card and stated "Why because I am a black man in America?". If Sgt. Crowley is the same man that performed mouth-to-mouth resuscitation to a dying Reggie Lewis (black man) he should not be labeled a racist. Could it be possible that Professor Gates was so infuriated because someone was asking him to get out of his own house that he just lost his cool and starting going off on a tirade? I just think that Sgt. Crowley was put in a awkward situation so to diffuse the situation before it escalated, he decided to handcuff the Professor. Like I said this is all speculation on my part. No one will ever know what exactly happened that day except for Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley.

On another note, I think it is unfortunate that what many will take out of President Obama's press conference on healthcare is the reference towards Cambridge police as "acting stupidly." First, the reporter should not have even asked the question about an isolated situation when the President is discussing health care reforms for the entire nation. When the question was posed, the smart reply from President Obama would have been "Tonight's press conference is about healthcare" especially when President Obama clearly stated that he did not know all the facts about the incident. I am glad that President Obama called Sgt. Crowley to tell him that his direct remarks towards the Cambridge police was "an overreaction in pulling Professor Gates out of his home."

Hopefully the three individuals, President Obama, Professor Gates and Sgt. Crowley can find a way to sit down in the same room, resolve their differences and allow this unfortunate incident to just pass over.