SURPRISE APPEARANCE: Obama shows up at the Gibbs briefing to address the Gates controversy --
"I actually just had a conversation with Sergeant James Crowley," Obama said, "and I have to tell you that, as I said yesterday, my impression of him is that he was an outstanding police officer...and that was confirmed in the phone conversation.
"Because this has been ratcheting up, and I helped to contribute to the ratcheting up...in my choice of words, I unfortunately gave the impression that I was maligning the Cambridge Police Department or Sergeant Crowley specifically," he continued. "I continue to believe, based on what I have heard, that there was an overreaction in pulling Prof. Gates out of his home and to the station. I also continue to believe, based on what I heard, that Prof. Gates probably overreacted as well."
"Because of our history...African Americans are sensitive to these issues." (2:35 p.m.)
http://www.politico.com/...
This actually had the danger of becoming a major distraction but like most problems, the President took it head on and tackled it himself.
There was a diary already up on this (sorry for the over-reaction).
But I just wanted to add my two cents as a minority New Englander.
Boston is a modern big American city with the same issues as all other big American cities. Boston is also a very Democratic and socially progressive city. See here for the state of race relations in the city.
But Boston has had its very bad history on race relations in the past. Most remember the desegregation of schools that had led to violent clashes over busing in the mid-1970s in the city.
The issue of race is so damn touchy in America that it is unbearable. I'm a minority surrounded by white people and sometimes I feel like I have to walk on eggshells anytime something involving race hits the media from the LA riots to OJ to this latest blowup.
America may believe that we are now "post-racial" but the issue of race is always there just beneath the surface - and we wonder why the Isreali/Arab (or other ethic strifes) just doesn't get over itself when America cannot get over itself.
Update: Thanks for the honor of being on rec list and doubly thanks to frontpager Jed Lewison