Obama begins chat with officer, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. at White House
By Ben Feller, APFriday, July 31, 2009
Obama begins chat with officer, Harvard professor
WASHINGTON — The beer is flowing. President Barack Obama has begun his chat with the two men he joined last week at the center of an uproar over race in America: Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley. Obama invited both men to have a beer and listen to each other.
Vice President Joe Biden joined them as they all sat outside near the Rose Garden.
Gates had been arrested on a charge of disorderly conduct by Crowley after protesting the policeman’s conduct during a possible burglary investigation at Gates’ house. The charge was later dropped.
The episode exploded into a national debate on racial profiling, fueled in part by Obama. Gates is black and Crowley is white.
