Arresting Henry Louis Gates was not about race—the real story is class and police power

In 2009, one of Harvard’s most famous scholars, Henry Louis Gates Jr., was arrested for disturbing the peace. Every race reductionist in the US insists the reason was racism, but it was actually about two things that are more fundamental to life in America: class and police power.

Before I provide the proof, here’s what’s indisputable:

Gates returned home from a trip to China and could not get his front door to open, so he went in through the back, then got the driver to help him force open the front door. A neighbor saw something unusual going on at the house and called 9–1–1, saying, “I don’t know if they live there and they just had a hard time with their key.” When the dispatcher asked for details, she replied, “One looked kind of Hispanic, but I’m not really sure. And the other one entered and I didn’t see what he looked like at all.”

So, contrary to the claims of many, the investigation did not begin with racial assumptions.

Sgt. James Crowley and several other officers went to Gates’ home and asked him to step outside. Gates began yelling at Crowley about being questioned because of his race—his shouting can be heard on the 9–1–1 dispatcher’s recordings—so Crowley arrested Gates for disorderly conduct. After the incident attracted national attention, charges against Gates were dropped.