Gates

I tend to agree with Ta-Nehisi on this one. That won't come as much of a shock to long-time reader(s).

I will say that something recently happened to Madame Cura and I. I set off the alarm in our house and the company that monitors the signal called my office number rather than my home. So, as no one answered (I was, after all, at home, setting off the alarm), they called the police. Several hours later (!), the patrol car arrived. I met the (white) officers at the door, told them what happened, and they left. No ID required. Was that because of the absence of color on my face? I dunno.

Sounds like Gates, not unreasonably, was not happy, but it also sounds like he took it past where it needed to go once the matter was settled. But not unlike the recent trend in umpires who rather than just turn their backs to a player questioning the strike out, follow him back to the dugout hoping there'd be an ejection-worthy confrontation, the cop should have just said, "We were just responding to a report of a break in. Goodbye, sir." And left it that. Arresting the dude for being obnoxious isn't the right response.

And yeah, the Shem Walker killing gets no play outside of New York, and it is far worse. The guy is dead for trying to get someone suspicious to stop sitting on his mother's stoop.