What would you want the police to do if they responded to a breaking and entry call at your home address? I would expect them to request ID from me. I would happily provide that ID and thank them for following up on the person’s tip. Explain I had to force my way in to my own home because I didn’t have my key, and wish them a good afternoon. At which point the officer would leave.

Had Gates done likewise, this incident would not have made national news. Gates would not have been arrested, etc.

Where on the other hand, the humanities these days tends to be taken with the idea that truth is something we make up, and indoctrinate every passing student accordingly. Such relativism is incompatible with the very idea of the academy. If some private organization wants to promote their own brand of manufactured ethics or religion, that is fine, but there is no reason why the public should be compelled to do so by force of law.

Your first two paragraph are right on. Thank you.

The English major comments were meant to be silly. I am a professor in the humanities and social sciences. Just trying to break the tension on the thread. I am one of the fevered radicals that Mark speaks of (I am far to the left of Gates).

Mark D.,

I love you (I would say what I really think, but I am pretty sure that Geoff would erase it).

A lot of times people may feel like they have been prejudiced against regardless of whether or not any prejudice has actually occurred. Until you have lived your life as a member of an oppressed group, then it is difficult to say whether or not you can fully understand what was going through Professor Gates’ head.

Also the commentary above about English degrees being useless is rude and unnecessary. Without majors in English, you would not be able to learn the language and appreciate its complexities. I don’t go around making snarky remarks about people that have majors/degrees in fields I am not interested in because such comments are entirely useless and are really wrong in most cases. Every degree contributes something to some field that makes this world a better place. If he were a sociologist, then that too would be an important field. We cannot just judge people because they didn’t get a degree in medicine or engineering or any other field that has become venerated in American society.

Many have wrongly asserted that this wouldn’t have happened to a white man. These people have clearly not watched any episodes of cops. Whenever someone starts screaming at police officers outside their homes, sometimes inside, they are awarded two nickle-plated bracelets. An officers job is already hard enough and they don’t need to take “stupid” comments from anyone. That said, I will agree that the smartest course of action may have been to treat Gates as the member of a “protected class” that he wants to be. In other words treat him better than a similarly situated person who is not part of a “protected class.”

I’ve also read the ridiculous comment that if Gates was white they would not have asked for ID. Clearly, these people have never watched cops or had any interaction with the police.