A woman living near Gates' home, presumably white, notified the police telling them she observed two black men with backpacks forcibly trying to enter a nearby home. Gates claimed that he and his driver were pushing on the door because it was jammed.
Now...I have no problem with someone calling the police if they observe suspicious behavior. But I do question why the woman reported two black men with backpacks. I am sure the police thought the black men were young, therefore fitting the profile of young black "thugs" trying to pull off a robbery in an upscale Cambridge neighborhood.
Many white people and even some African-Americans associate racial profiling with inner city hood n*ggas. However, you can ask just about any black man and he can regale you with multiple "unprovoked" incidents with the police.
Doesn't matter if they are Alphas or Kappas or Crips or Bloods; doesn't matter if they got their education from the block or Morehouse; doesn't matter if they drive a brand new, fresh off the lot BMW or a drop top whip with the bass pumping. The police assume black men are assumed suspicious until proven otherwise. And some people in the so-called Black Elite or bourgie class can be caught off guard when confronted with this fact.
The movie Crash portrays this phenomena wonderfully. In one scene, a well dressed African-American couple who are driving in a luxury car are pulled over. What follows (if I remember correctly) is a scene filled rage and indignance that someone "like them" could be treated in such a manner. I guess they weren't aware of the term DWB (driving while black).
I grew up in an middle class family, I lived in a custom-designed home, my mother was a Jack and Jill mother, but my brother and I knew that our hometown police as are the police in every city, town and burgh operate using a certain code: assume then verify. Not exactly the scientific method promoted at Harvard.
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