To everyone who has contacted me about the arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his home, I share your outrage. A 58-year-old man, who walks with a cane, was denied the right to be in his house after showing ID. He was also denied the right to be outraged that proof of residence, and corroboration from Harvard police, was not enough for the police officer to thank him for his cooperation and leave his home. I was at the police station after his arrest (with my husband) and had dinner with him later that evening. I am proud to have been with a friend dealing with police harassment. The only conclusion that I can come to about the incident is that the white sergeant’s response to the situation was racist. Nothing else fits the unfolding of events. When Harvard police further confirmed Skip Gate’s identity - that was not enough for the officer. When Professor Gates requested the officer’s name and badge number when they were both in his home and the officer refused, all rational explanations further disappeared. We’ve heard this song before, seen the movie, and lived with the lies.

There are many things about the incident that disturb me. What I can’t shake is the memory of doing research in Chicago and Mississippi and asking women about how the lynching of Emmet Till affected them. The women in Chicago were outraged that Till’s rights as a citizen were not respected and that he was not protected. The women in Mississippi thought that that was an important argument, but not the main one. Without exception they said the men who lynched Emmet Till did it “because they could.” I don’t care about au-courant musings regarding post-racial America. I don’t care about a blue line. The officer did this in front of numerous witnesses, in broad daylight, in Cambridge, because he thought he could.