Thaindian News

Washington, Aug 5 (IANS) White and black Americans don’t see eye to eye on last month’s arrest of a black Harvard University professor Henry Louis Gates by a white police officer, according to a new poll.
The CNN/Opinion Research Corporation survey, released Tuesday, also suggests a racial divide over President Barack Obama’s initial comments on the incident.

Fifty-four percent of those questioned in the poll say they don’t think Cambridge, Massachusetts police officer James Crowley acted stupidly when he arrested Gates at the professor’s home after Crowley responded to a call that someone was breaking into the house.

One in three say they think Crowley did act stupidly. But there’s a major racial divide, with 59 percent of black respondents saying that Crowley acted stupidly compared to 29 percent of whites questioned.

Just over half of those polled feel that Gates acted stupidly, with three in 10 saying no. Broken down by race, 58 percent of whites say Gates acted stupidly, with African-Americans split on the question.

The arrest sparked a national discussion on the issue of racial profiling, which was amplified when President Obama weighed in on the matter.

In a prime time news conference last month, Obama said “the Cambridge police acted stupidly in arresting somebody when there was already proof that they were in their own home”.

Two days later, after criticism from police unions and after speaking with Crowley, Obama attempted to defuse the dustup by inviting the professor and the police officer for a “beer summit” at the White House.

Fifty-four percent of those questioned say they think the president acted stupidly when he commented on the Gates arrest, with 32 percent disagreeing.

But again, the poll indicates a racial divide, with more than six out of 10 whites feeling Obama acted stupidly but just one in four black respondents agreeing.

Six out of 10 approve of how the president has handled race relations, with nine out of ten African-Americans and 56 percent of whites approving.

The poll indicates that both blacks and whites believe that Friday’s beer summit at the White House was a good idea. But was it a “teachable moment”, as mentioned by the president?

“Not according to the public — blacks and whites agree that the whole controversy did not teach Americans a lesson that will lead to better race relations,” says CNN Polling Director Keating Holland.