
So Much More Than a Teachable Moment
You will probably recall that in July 2009, noted Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates was arrested at his own home after a neighbor called the police to report a suspected break-in. Gates is black; the arresting officer, white.
The incident drew national attention and President Obama responded at the time by saying, “I don’t know . . . what role race played in that. But . . . what I think we know separate and apart from this incident is that there’s a long history in this country of African Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately.”