Numerous diaries and comments are being written to analyse the brouhaha that has developed over the tussle between Harvard Professor Louis Henry Gates and the Cambridge police departmetn, over the professor's arrest for being disorderly in his own living room.
I'm going to explain why I must believe that Gates is right, in light of my experience, and suggest that, while not every may feel that way, it is imperative to approach the officer's story with a good deal of skepticism.
I'll share my experience over the fold. But first, disclaimers are in order. We are a middle class white family, and at the time lived in a new subdivision that was all white. Along the way of this journey, we had the help of a very generous and wise African American community organizer. I say this only to provoke this thought: if what I am about to describe could happen to us, what was happening in the African American neighborhood?
So, let's jump and I'll tell my story.
Read More