Skipping Skip Gates

The least important aspect of the press conference on Wednesday has (of course) gotten the most play -- Pres. Obama's remarks on Henry Louis "Skip" Gates' arrest in Cambridge, Massachusetts. I've elected not to follow the story as much as possible, as it is guaranteed to get more play than it deserves. The fact is, the man was arrested in his own house for "disorderly conduct," when another person in the same situation probably wouldn't have been. In discussing the situation on the Root, an African-American oriented website that he edits, Skip Gates admits that he followed the policeman out of his own house, raised his voice, and was arrested on his front porch. The situation escalated in part because Skip Gates wouldn't let the issue die. But I don't think he should have let the issue die. He was within his rights to accuse the police of profiling him, as another person in the same situation probably wouldn't have faced the same accusatory tone from the police. The arrest had to have been personally humiliating, and the "disorderly conduct" could be considered an act of civil disobedience in this "post-racial" age. I think Skip Gates and Pres. Obama share a similar problem, as Stanley Fish writes, but I don't think we should make so much of the President's comments. It's terrible that the President can't criticize a police officer for doing something wrong.