Gates Sends Lucia Bouquet of Flowers

The woman who made the 911 call that led to Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates' controversial arrest wasn't present at the so-called beer summit.

But she got a shot of kindness and a taste of gratitude from Gates himself.

Lucia Whalen received a bouquet of flowers at her office from Gates, according to Whalen's attorney, Wendy Murphy.

"She described them as amazing, and appreciated them very much," Murphy said of the bouquet.

The attorney described the flowers as being a beautiful assortment of what she believed were different colored roses.

There was a note included from Gates, the details of which Murphy would not divulge. She said the note characterized Gates's "expression of gratitude" for Whalen's action.

An officer responding to a report of a possible break-in at Gates' Cambridge, Massachusetts, home arrested the professor on July 16 for disorderly conduct. The charge was later dropped. CNN

It's Beer Day

I wish Obama had added Lucia Whalen to the guest list for the beer summit at the White House tonight at 6 pm. Whalen, the caller, was hurt, perhaps the most. She was trying to do the right thing but her words were distorted. Bob Schieffer points out the biggest lesson is that in prickly situations, people should bite their tongue. I don't know if anyone's ready to learn anything about improving relations among the races, or stopping racial profiling. I think what we've learned is that there is a lot of racism out there and it's perpetuated in our media:

No apologies are expected to be made. Isn't that nice. Working class whites now dislike Obama even more.

Police officer Justin Barrett inserted himself into the debate by making a fool of himself and proving that SOME cops aren't worthy of a badge:

Obama Needs to Add One More To Beer at the White House

This incident is sad the whole way around.
It shows what kind of ripples incidents like these have on individuals, families, communities and the nation. People took sides either for or against Gates or Crowley, without considering nuances, and demonized the other. These days it's so easy to tear people apart on the Internet and in the media. Judging from the 9-11 call, she is NOT a racist. Looks like Obama needs to add one more to the gathering over beer.

The woman whose 911 call led to the arrest of Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. spoke publicly for the first time about the case Wednesday, contradicting the arresting police officer on a key point and saying she was unfairly labeled a racist.

A police report said the caller described the possible burglars as "two black males with backpacks" — leading some commentators to vilify the caller as racist since it turned out Gates was entering his own home.

But the 911 recording released by police showed that Lucia Whalen never said two black men were involved. She did not describe their race, acknowledged they might just be having a hard time with the door and said she saw two suitcases on the porch. MSNBC