What Really Happened

Long overdue, I know, but here's what really happened when Sgt. James Crowley arrested Henry Louis Gates.

Gates forgot his keys and tried to break into his own house.
A neighbor saw two guys trying to kick the door in and called the cops.
Crowley responded to scene where he was confronted by an already agitated Gates, who was pissed he forgot his keys.
And here's where the thing went off the rails.
Because Gates has spent years studying racial injustice he immediately had it in his head that the cop was there to harrass him because he's black.
In fact, according to the police report, when the cops rolled up to his house and asked him for his ID he said "why, because I'm a black man in America."
And at first Gates refused to show his driver's license, only offering his Harvard ID which didn't have proof of home address.
Gates was screaming and threatening Crowley, when Gates should have known he wasn't being targeted, someone had actually called 911 to report a suspected burglary in progress.
And here's the kicker, when Crowley asked to speak to Gates outside Gates said "I'll speak to yo' mama outside."

The reason why I decided to complete this post which I started about three weeks ago, is because that classic line wasn't reported in the mainstream media.
I had to read it in the police report. Well maybe you will say the police report contains inaccuracies, but Gates doesn't dispute any of this. Even at the famous beer summit he contended he was targeted because he was black.

So here's where the blame lies in this situation:
100% of the blame for his arrest goes to Gates. I don't care what color you are or how many years of oppression your people have suffered, in this situation Gates should have said "sorry officer, I forgot my keys, here's my driver's license to prove this is my residence. Thank you." Had he said that, this whole mess likely would have been avoided.

Blame also goes to the person in the Cambridge Police Department who said the 911 caller had identified the suspected robbers as black men. That wasn't true.

And last but not least, the President who turned the whole thing into a national shitstorm by taking his friend's word and making a half-cocked comment before he had any of the facts.