A prominent black Harvard professor was arrested in Cambridge in his own home, because someone thought he had broken in.

Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr., one of the nation’s pre-eminent African-American scholars, was arrested Thursday afternoon at his home by Cambridge police investigating a possible break-in. The incident raised concerns among some Harvard faculty that Gates was a victim of racial profiling.

Yup.  I think I’ll leave this one without comment.

Edit: Actually, I’ll add my favorite line from the story as a little added je ne sais quois.

[Harvard professor of medicine S. Allan Counter], who had called Gates from the Nobel Institute in Sweden (emphasis added – ed), where Counter is on sabbatical, said that Gates was “shaken” and “horrified” by his arrest.

Counter has faced a similar situation himself. The well-known neuroscience professor, who is also black, was stopped by two Harvard police officers in 2004 after being mistaken for a robbery suspect as he crossed Harvard Yard. They threatened to arrest him when he could not produce identification.

…Seriously.

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Posted by Alex Ramos on July 21st, 2009 :: Filed under In the News
Tags :: unbelievable
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