Diamond on Racial Profiling

This video clip is focused around the issue of whether it was protocol or racial profiling in the case of Harvard Professor Henry Gates’ arrest back in 2009. Professor Gates had apparently locked himself out of his home and was having a hard time getting back in. Someone notified the police of a suspected burglary in which they came out to find Professor Henry, who had already entered his home. He and the officers got into an altercation as he tried to explain that this was his home and was not a burglar. He showed his driver’s license and Harvard Identification card yet the officers still arrested him. He was booked on accusations of disorderly conduct after “exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior,” according to a police report. Gates accused the investigating officer of being a racist and told him he had "no idea who he was messing with,'' the report said. In this clip, as we have already heard before, African American parents warn their children about coming into contact with law enforcement and preach that they should be respectful and not talk back out of fear of the situation escalating into something more severe and possibly life threatening. As David Harris states, this creates a distortion of the legal system as well as the social world because African Americans become skeptical and distrusting of the exact system that’s sole priority is to protect them. It deploys the legitimacy of law enforcement and makes those who have not even been guilty of a crime feel suspect and victimized. It also causes them to alter the ways in which they carry out their daily lives, constantly on the lookout for police and finding ways to get out of their site out of fear of   being pulled over, stopped, and harassed for no specific reason. Some say that Professor Henry and the Officer involved could have solved the situation in a manner that may have defused it rather than it escalating to such an extreme matter. Even President Obama spoke out in regards to the situation, stating that there were ways that both parties could have prevented the situation from becoming such a hostile issue. But in this time, where police legitimacy is already downplayed amongst the vast majority of minority groups, it seems that a form of resistance (in this case  Professor Henry cursing the officer out and calling him a racist) is the most feasible way for most to react in an effort to stand up for the rights that they feel are in violation during these instances of racial profiling. Though it is not clear exactly how to approach this issue in order to bring it to an end, Eldorado should definitely place more scrutiny and penalties on officers who are accused of racial profiling. I believe that further investigation into each individual claim is needed to find the root cause as well as look for ways to overcome such a globally traumatizing issue.