Everybody settle down! It's an American thing

This past weeks articles regarding the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. has people speculating racism, making racially fueled comments without seemingly taking the time to really look at the situation. A Washington Post commentary by Neely Tucker presents an unbiased account of how this situation could happen to any American regardless of race.

In response to articles this week such as CNN’s The 'unfathomable' arrest of a black scholar, Neely Tucker has written a very simplistic but truthful commentary on this heated story. He writes to an audience he hopes will better understand this situation as one that can happen to anyone no matter what race. If you were really in a dangerous situation or someone was actually breaking into your home wouldn’t you want them to thoroughly investigate rather than taking the word of whoever opened the door? He brings to light the fact that he has also been in a situation where police officers responded to a burglar alarm from his home and made him show credentials not just assuming he lived there because he said so. The difference in this story is the fact that he is a white man. Although racial profiling is something that is still active in today’s society I do not believe this was a case of profiling. The Professor was asked to give his I.D but because of who is was he felt he did not have to cooperate. Police officers are trained to be aware of situations that can rapidly turn bad. They never know when a simple call to a potential break in or domestic disturbance can turn deadly. When the Professor refused to cooperate and evidently started exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior according to a copy of the police report posted on The Smoking Gun.com, that is when he was arrested. Not because he was a black man. If you look at the facts presented:

The Professor had been out of town.

A neighbor called in to police to report a break in.

The Professor and his driver were seen trying to force the door open
and at that time it was unknown that they had locked themselves out of
the house.

When police arrived, Henry Louis Gates, Jr would not give
his credentials and started an angry rant.

I believe as the author of the commentary does that it is common sense no matter what race you are not to rant and be uncooperative with the police. Their job is very volatile and they have to get their facts in a very short period of time--their lives depend on it.