Wednesday, July 22, 2009

Obama on Henry Louis Gates

Obama says Skip Gates is a friend and that the Cambridge police acted stupidly arresting Gates when they knew it was Gates' home. This whole incident makes me ill and sad.

Here's what Gates said in an interview at The Root:
Henry Louis Gates Jr.: I’m outraged. I can’t believe that an individual policeman on the Cambridge police force would treat any African-American male this way, and I am astonished that this happened to me; and more importantly I’m astonished that it could happen to any citizen of the United States, no matter what their race. And I’m deeply resolved to do and say the right things so that this cannot happen again.

Of course, it will happen again, but … I want to do what I can so that every police officer will think twice before engaging in this kind of behavior. Read the rest