I think this entire situation is less about race and more about status. It is about an incredibly established personality, who resented the idea of being questioned by a police officer, and a police officer who didn’t like getting quite that much pushback. As I’ve commented before - I know a lot of cops, and you can get away with a lot. What they choose to enforce in these situations is very subjective. I think a few things really stand out in this though:

1) The idea that Gates resented having to deal with cops is just plain classism - not racism. He didn’t feel like having to answer the questions, and frankly this just isn’t reasonable. If you look like you are breaking into a house, black or white, you need to address it. Don’t forget - the neighbor called it in - the cops weren’t just cruising by and decided to do a stop and frisk. The cop absolutely had to check this out, and he asked all the right questions…however…

2) I don’t think they should have arrested him. Especially after he showed ID. Cops have a lot of leeway in these situations, and the man was obviously not a threat. They should have simply walked away instead of luring him out of his house to make an arrest (a legal requirement btw)

We live (at least some of us) with the silly notion that we are all equal. Its a nice concept - but its not the truth. Some of us think we should be treated differently because of our status, and cops certainly behave differently with different types of citizens. Its a an indisputable fact. Unfortunately, this situation highlighted that in all its unpleasant glory. Nobody would be talking about this if this was a white redneck in a trailer in kentucky, or a brother dressed as a gangbanger in the projects. Certainly not professor gates…

-PH