The recent Henry Louis Gates arrest escalated the already tense issue of race relations and more specifically the issue of racial profiling to a national level. The situation has been exploited by the media to the point of dubbing it the end of the pre-racial Obama administration. Upon closer examination however, the Gates issue illustrates a comedy of errors, not a clear and legitimate example of racial profiling that can be used to paint broad strokes in our current political climate.

This comedy of errors starts with the victim of the situation, Professor Henry Louis Gates. Gates is currently the Director of African American studies at Harvard University and widely considered America’s preeminent African American scholar. What is critical to accessing the event is Gates’ demeanor before, during and after he was required show proof of residency. Because a reliable and factual reconstruction of the incident doesn’t exist, we cannot truthfully decide whether Gates handled himself correctly or as many speculate, overreacted. However, we can ponder the possibility that his life’s work does subject him to a culture bias, as it would anyone. In fact, one could go far enough to posit that he might even be in search of societal bias given his study.

If Gates did overreact and resist cooperating with Sgt. James Crowley, he would have rightfully been arrested. What can be implied in a quasi-factual manner from pictures and quotes is that Gates did not necessarily respect that police officers put their lives on the line every day when on duty and deserve a certain amount of respect because of that fact. To go further, in retrospect, all of the players involved, Gates included would most likely admit to underestimating the fragility of the situation.

Turning to Sgt. James Crowley, a police force veteran and widely considered an expert on the subject of racial profiling. One must also understand that he also shares a slice of the blame in the Gates arrest. You would think that one who is an expert in the field of racial profiling and even teaches a class on the subject would quickly grasp the gravity of the Gates situation as it was unfolding and react accordingly. Although Crowley arrested Gates for “unruly behavior,” the real question is: did Crowley contribute to the escalation of Gate’s behavior? If so, was his response to Gates in some way racially motivated? Although these are both valid questions, a truthful answer will always be hard to find. However, at bare minimum, Crowley can most likely not be classified as a racist, but given his background, he should have known better.

Finally, President Barack Obama can be dubbed the wind that fanned the flames of the event into the national spotlight. His public misstep during a prime-time press conference moved the situation to the front pages of every news outlet. The President and his staff made many errors, the biggest being speaking on the issue at all. Obama should have understood that if he chimed in on the Gates situation it would explode in the eyes of the public. Furthermore, this situation illustrates a President known for his composure losing his restraint on non- critical issues. Calling the Cambridge police department “stupid” then backtracking on it later shows a rare communications breakdown in the White House and a loss of control of their own agenda hinting at the possibility of Obama’s own racial bias. If Obama felt the need comment, he should have waited until all the sparks had settled and all facts were uncovered.

The Robert Gates arrest illustrates a comedy of errors across the board. The largest of these errors being President Barack Obama shoving the situation higher on the national agenda than it should have been. I think its safe to say that this issue is one the Obama administration would like themselves and the public to forget.