Henry Louis Gates, Jr.

Henry Louis "Skip" Gates, Jr. is a renowned Harvard professor, director of the university's W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research, and one of the nation's most prominent black intellectuals.

Last week he was arrested outside his home in Cambridge, MA. After returning from an overseas trip, he and his driver tried to force their way through Gates' front door, which was jammed. A panicky neighbor called the police, in the broad daylight of 12 pm, on the count that she saw two "large black" men attempting a break-in. (Gates, by the way, is slight and uses a cane.) The cops arrived and Gates showed them his ID with the name, picture, and address to prove he lived there. The professor yelled at one of the cops, accusing him of racial profiling, and demanded he know the name and badge number of the officer. That was enough for the douche to arrest Gates and charge him with disorderly conduct for "exhibiting loud and tumultuous behavior." That, however, has been dropped.

And that's how I learned about Skip Gates.