Henry Louis Gates Jr. is a Harvard professor, director of Harvard’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, and overseer of TheRoot.com, a website on African-American news. He lives in a two-story Cambridge home with a stubborn front door.
James Crowley is a Cambridge Police officer who responded to a call in which a woman reported seeing “two black males with backpacks on the porch,” with one “wedging his shoulder into the door as if he was trying to force entry.”
Gates, dismayed by this incident, demanded the name and badge number of the officer. After showing his identification and proving his residence, Gates followed the officer out to the front porch, where he was arrested.
Gates is the foremost African American Scholar in America. He was recently the victim of racial profiling. Naturally, this drew the attention of Barack Obama, who invited Gates and Officer Crowley to the White House for a tour, some libations, and a chance to talk.
While it was called a “beer summit,” Obama maintains that the event was simply “folks having a drink at the end of the day and hopefully giving people an opportunity to listen to each other.”
It was noted that the men drank out of traditional beer mugs. Obama had a Bud Lite, Sergeant Crowley had Blue Moon, and Professor Gates had Sam Adams Light. Biden, who abstains from alcohol, drank Buckler nonalcoholic beer. They also enjoyed peanuts and pretzels.
No apologies were offered, but Crowley has made statements claiming that he acted stupidly and regretted his actions.