One of the nation's most renowned Black professors, Henry Louis Gates Jr., was arrested Thursday afternoon. The Harvard University professor was taken in custody after police arrived at his Cambridge home investigating a possible break-in.
This is one of the most profound examples of racial profiling which continues to be a problem nationwide. Ironically so, Harvard, the Ivy-League that restricts no students from attending due to lack of financial means, is no exception.
After having difficulty with a jammed door at his home, Gates continued to fumble with the door. During this, he showed signs of frustration as his attempts became louder. This inconvenience must have changed the atmosphere of the neighborhood, creating a source for concern. (Hence, my sarcasm) The difficult part to comprehend in this scene is that when the police arrived Gates was already in his home. Despite this, they continued to arrest him for “disorderly conduct” despite lacking corroborating evidence.
Rightly so, Gates told the arresting officer that he had “no idea who he was messing with” hinting to his executive position as director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research at Harvard. He continued to express to the officers that they were racist and that he was being targeted because he was Black.
It is important to note how the charge changed from a possible breaking and entering to disorderly conduct. This fact alone lends largely to the popular feeling that Gates was profiled. As he and his other Black Harvard colleague questioned, “if he had been a white professor whether this kind of thing would have happened to him.” I cannot help but agree that if this was a White professor, the whole situation would have been considered a misunderstanding and the officers would have bid him a good day. But this instead took place with a Black professor, becoming a racial incident among others at Harvard University. Black Harvard students and faculty displayed heavy criticism at the finding of Gates arrest. Many of these Black students and faculty describe this as one instance of prejudice they continue to face at Harvard.
