Reply re: "What do you call a Black Man with a PhD., pt. 2"

Dr. Spence,
With all due respect, I have to disagree with you on one point. "Because the entire concept of racial profiling is based on class–on the idea that black middle and upper class men are treated as if they are POOR and black." This point that you are making here (in my opinion) is not one hundred percent correct. In my experience, "racial profiling" has evolved with time. I believe it is now more correct to call it simply, "profiling". The reason for this shift is actually because of the social "class" that you refer to in your statement. In today’s society, and all the varied dynamics there in, race has gradually become less of an indicator, and thus less important. As a retired police officer it was my personal observation (in the location of my job) that the areas in which crimes were most likely to occur was of course in the more depressed areas of town. With that said I believe that you can agree that economic depression knows no race and therefore is neither biased nor racist. Anyway, in these areas you will find all races of people just as you will all across the land. I can of course only speak to the area in which I live and worked, but race was simply not a factor in determining who was suspect in any given crime. I suppose the point I am trying to get to is that a persons race is becoming less a factor in these matters. There will always be those instances where a particular officer will be the exception, but it is quickly becoming, not the rule. In today’s lawsuit happy society police officers have to be very careful in all that they do, because generally speaking they are usually guilty until proven innocent, and it is a well know fact that even the appearance of a racially motivated action can be a career ender.
One last point, I only worked for two different departments during my career, but in both of those departments it was against department policy to handcuff any suspect’s hands in front of their body for officer safety reasons. To violate this policy could and usually would result in time off without pay, regardless of the suspect. It is very easy to sit in judgment of police officers. The public in general wants to hold them to an all but impossible standard, always wanting to overlook the fact that they too are human. I would venture to guess that if more citizens were to go to their local police department and request to ride along with an officer for a week or two that they would walk away with a vastly different view of police officers. You know... walk a mile in their shoes.
I seriously doubt that Dr. Gates was placed in handcuffs and arrested because of his race. Oh and no, the police officer isn't necessarily always without fault, nor are they necessarily always right.