The Western™ Reacts to Gates Arrest
In July, Henry Louis Gates, Jr., arguably America’s foremost African-American scholar, was arrested at his Cambridge, MA, home by a white police officer and charged with disorderly conduct. The incident sparked several weeks of heated, nation-wide debate about race, law enforcement, and the Black experience in America.
Big Red Tool reporters polled the The Western™ community.
- Walter Samuels, Pre-Law Major: “Oh, no, not again! If there’s one lesson we should have all learned from the Rodney King crisis, it’s that racism simply doesn’t exist on the police force unless a trial jury says it does.”
- James MacPhearson, Police Officer: “Police are always trained to use racially sensitive tactics when on patrol. In Bowling Green, we carry black nightsticks, instead of our usual white-painted ones, when we go into minority neighborhoods to enforce law and order.”
- Rachel Wicks, Evanston freshman: “I’m glad they finally bagged that monopolist Gates. I hate Windows Vista.”
- Brock Llewellin, Evangelist: “It is abhorrent that race may have played a role in the Gates arrest. It’s not as if the guy’s gay!”
- Sen. Mitch McConnell (R-KY): “What did Obama say about it? I say the opposite.”
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