New thoughts about Professor Gates' arrest.

An important lesson! Can we learn it?
The latest word from the White house and some of the public in general is that Professor Gates was no less responsible for the arrest than the arresting officer. The incident escalated much more rapidly than it should have. We have two intelligent people with much different histories and perspectives in a situation where both personalities expect to be in control. In the end, control went to the authority of the police department and overrode the Professor's personal need to control a situation. The officer was backed up by his department while the Professor was on his own. His personal anger kept the situation more heated than was justified. The police officer could have relinquished control but his training would not allow that. We can learn from this if we understand the two points of view. If we refuse to understand and continue to blame one side or the other we learn nothing.
DRP