Gates-Crowley saga

There is no question that there is prejudice in historically troubled relationships between the authorities and visible minorities. President Obama intervened, and called the event 'stupid', when a friend of his was arrested for breaking into his own home. His friend, black, was arrested after being confronted by police. He subsequently proved it was his home, but words ensued. I can imagine how resentful I would be! A white cop and a black man, a prominent scholar of African American studies at Harvard University, who would be aware of all the red-necked bigots who have done physical or emotional harm to people over the years.

One writer published:

Although race was what caught President Obama's attention, the confrontation between a Black Harvard professor and a White Cambridge police officer is not about race at all.
It is about citizens' rights. When you look past the argument over race, you can see that a homeowner's rights were trampled on by the investigating and then arresting officer.

There is no question that racial profiling continues in this day and age, despite efforts to educate those with power. I hope that this necessity will stop, as we create a more diverse body of police forces. Only as we learn more about one another will we truly be free. As Hanaia said,

Historically, only Black people who are, in principle, stopped in expensive cars are asked "Is this your car?"

Somewhere else I read: "I refuse to believe that the bank of justice is bankrupt. " Instead of defending the police officer, the authorities need to understand that it is only in talking about these things that we will improve society. Police do not have the right to be arrogant. Respect goes both ways.

Racial profiling in Canada: challenging the myth of'a ... - Tator
Protecting Equality in the Face of Terror: Ethnic and ... - Choudhry
Stories in the time of cholera: Racial profiling during ... - Briggs

The Ontario Human Rights Commission, as quoted in a CBC article, took a broader approach, defining it as

"any action undertaken for reasons of safety, security or public protection that relies on stereotypes about race, colour, ethnicity, ancestry, religion, or place of origin rather than on reasonable suspicion, to single out an individual for greater scrutiny or different treatment."

The OHRC gives some non-police-related examples of what it considers racial profiling:

• School officials suspend a Latino child for violating the school's zero tolerance policy while a white child's behaviour is excused as being normal child's play.
• An employer insists on stricter security clearance for a Muslim employee after the Sept. 11 attacks.
• A bar refuses to serve aboriginal customers because of a belief they will get drunk and rowdy

A study of police statistics in Kingston, Ont., (May 2005) found

• that young black and aboriginal men were more likely to be stopped
• that police in the predominantly white city were 3.7 times more likely to stop a black as a Caucasian,
  
• and 1.4 times more likely to stop an aboriginal person than a white.

I have a dream...
"- they will not be judged by the colour of their skin, but by the content of their character."
--Martin Luther King, Jr., delivered on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, Washington D.C., August 28, 1963.