Reader donations, many as small as just $1, have kept In These Times publishing for 45 years. Once you've finished reading, please consider making a tax-deductible donation to support this work.
The debate is heating over the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., who was handcuffed on his front porch after Cambridge, Mass. police received a call from a neighbor that Gates, who had been stuck outside dealing with a broken door, was attempting to break into and enter the home.Harvard Law Professor Charles Ogletree released a statement on the website for The Root, the online magazine founded by Gates:When Professor Gates opened the door, the officer immediately asked him to step outside. Professor Gates remained inside his home and asked the officer why he was there. The officer indicated that he was responding to a 911 call about a breaking and entering in progress at this address. Professor Gates informed the officer that he lived there and was a faculty member at Harvard University. The officer then asked Professor Gates whether he could prove that he lived there and taught at Harvard. Professor Gates said that he could, and turned to walk into his kitchen, where he had left his wallet. The officer followed him. Professor Gates handed both his Harvard University identification and his valid Massachusetts driver’s license to the officer.
The police report, written by Sgt. James Crowley, paints Gates as being more confrontational, initially refusing to show his identification and yelling at the officer. In the report, Crowley wrote that Gates accused him of racial profiling and, when Crowley told him he was investigating a possible home invasion, Gates responded with,
Your donation makes In These Times possible
When you contribute, you're not just giving a gift—you're helping publish the next In These Times story. Will you join your fellow readers, and help fund this work by making a tax-deductible donation today?
Lindsay Eanet is an In These Times editorial intern and a journalism student at the University of Missouri.
More articles by Lindsay Eanet
The ITT List
The Greening of the Summer Music Festivals

Culture
Slam of the Free, Poem of the Brave
Activism through spoken word, at the Brave New Voices Poetry Slam.
The ITT List
Sotomayor Confirmation Open Thread
Similar articles
The ITT List
11 Bills Introduced to Stop Iraq War
Brian Zick
The ITT List
Stem Cell Bill Passes the House
Brian Zick
The ITT List
Thomas Jefferson, Threat to American Values
Brian Zick