Word: gateses
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Gates, an African American studies professor who has earned 50 honorary degrees for his work and is arguably Harvard's most renowned black scholar, was arrested last Thursday at his home for disorderly conduct. Police reports and statements from Gates' lawyer suggest that police officers, investigating a tip of a...
Cambridge authorities and prosecutors agreed to drop the charge on Tuesday, saying that the incident was "regrettable and unfortunate" but not one that should be viewed as demeaning to the "character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department."
Students interviewed were wary of passing judgment on police or the professor without more definitive information, but several said that the professor had been treated unfairly. Kyle A. Martin '11, a proctor at Harvard for the summer, said "it certainly would appear to me to be some sort of racial...
"This is not all that surprising that this would happen to an African American man, and even to somebody of Skip Gates' stature," said James H. Sidanius, a psychology and African American studies professor whose area of study includes institutional discrimination and group conflict. "These things happen all too often...
Sidanius said he believes the incident should have stopped when Gates provided the officer with his Harvard identification and driver's license as proof that he lived in the home, and "the fact it went beyond that is unsettling."