[VRM]

Obama (and a bunch of Californians) stuck his nose in where it is not welcome, and without having a clue about what is going on. Nothing has been proven regarding Obama being racist - it is just as likely that he jumped to his friends defense as it is that he jumped to his black friends defense. Obama should apologise to the cop, the dept, and the country for getting involved in the first place.

Gates freaked out, and thought that his status (and probably friendship with Obama) allowed him to act like a self-righteous jackass. City cops around here are a tough lot, most of them are good cops, but they are not known for their patience. That makes them easy to deal with if you are a good guy and stay reasonable - I prefer it that way. Simply put - you do not argue with city cops around here unless it is in court. Gates left his brain somewhere else when he was talking to the cop, and playing the race card is an unneeded escalation of a situation that could have been handled fine if Gates had been reasonable. Gates is most likely a racist, though I'm sure if he grew up in Boston he would certainly have reason to be (not that it makes it right...).

The officers actions do not seem racist at all. I would expect to be asked to show ID regardless of colour. However, any cop familiar with race relations in this area should know that a black college professor living in a nice neighbourhood and screaming about racism is going to be more trouble than it is worth. Once Gates had established his identity there was no reason to take him in. The officer reacted badly to a bad situation created by Gates, and you can bet that Gates will sue and make a boatload of money.

Crawley needed to swallow his pride and walk away, and he would have been the better man than Gates for doing so.

Gates was 90% of the problem, Crawley 10%, and Obama another 100%.

Steve