Correction Regarding the Gates Incident

On July 31 I posted a blog called Race and Perspective. I mis-represented the police officer when I stated that he was the one who sent an email referring to Professor Gates as a banana eating monkey. It was NOT the police officer who sent that mail but rather his colleague Officer Paul Barrett. What he said was "If I was the officer he verbally assaulted like a banana eating jungle monkey, I would have sprayed him in the face with OC (pepper spray) deserving of his belligerent non-compliance."
While I still feel the incident illuminates some issues our nation still have with racial profiling and misunderstanding, it makes a big difference to realize the the police officer did not make this racist remark. In fact, in the coverage that has followed, I have found it refreshing that the professor and the police officer have seemingly made an effort to reconcile and come to a better place with one another. This is what needs to happen in order for us to improve our race relationships. We need to be honest about one another about how we feel and then be open to grow. My apologies for misrepresenting the police officer in the earlier post.