OPINION: Racial profiling reaches its fever pitch

The flaming issue of racial profiling boiled over last week after police in Cambridge, Mass., arrested black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr. at his home.

President Barack Obama invited Gates and police Sgt. James Crowley to the White House for a beer and conversation about the incident, which sparked a national debate over race and raised questions about the president’s ability to speak his mind whenever he feels like it.

The situation of a white police officer arresting a black suspect is not unique anywhere. We know that in the Pee Dee, where 45 percent of the population is black.

But it begs the question: do police still make assumptions about people because of their race? We hope not. We like to think we’ve moved past the controversy, but have we? Will discussing the controversy civilly, over a beer, send a positive message to Americans about race relations? We hope so.

The Gates incident began when the Harvard professor came home from a trip to China. A woman working next door saw someone trying to open Gates’ door with his shoulder. She did not realize the “intruder” was Gates.

She called the police, who confronted Gates, not knowing he was in his own home. An incident resulted, and Crowley arrested the him for disorderly conduct, even though Gates was in his own home.

Gates is about the last person you would expect to cause trouble. He is only 5-foot-7. He weighs 150 pounds. He walks with a cane and is 58 years old.

Charges against Gates were quickly dropped. But his arrest has opened old wounds. Obama said police “acted stupidly” in arresting his friend Gates, then backed off his comments with an apology. He invited Gates and Crowley to have a cold one and bury the hatchet, hopefully this week.

“I am pleased (Obama) is eager to use my experience as a teaching moment,” said the professor, who told Obama he’s working on a documentary on racial profiling for PBS. “And if meeting Sgt. Crowley for a beer with the president will further that end, then I would be happy to oblige.”

Gates wrote the incident was not about him. Instead, it’s “about the creation of a society in which ‘equal justice before law’ is a lived reality.”

The first lesson from the incident should be this: not every confrontation between a police officer and black offender is racially motivated.

Crowley has led diversity workshops and is a decorated, respected officer. He is, from many accounts, the last person you would accuse of being a racist. Obama said Crowley has a fine record on racial sensitivity.

“My sense is you’ve got two good people in a circumstance in which neither of them were able to resolve the incident in the way they would have like it to be resolved,” the president said.

By commenting on the incident, Obama raised a local issue into the national spotlight. By apologizing, the president has taken the heat off the police and shed light on a historically troubling issue.

“He understood that the debate was veering off in the wrong direction, and, as he said, that his words may have contributed to that. So he felt a responsibility to step forward and kind of cool the situation down,” Obama adviser David Axelrod said on CBS’ “Face the Nation.”

“I think the president sees this as an opportunity to get dialogue going on an issue that’s been historically troubling,” Axelrod said.

The gesture of Obama inviting the two to settle their differences over a beer is symbolically significant. We hope it’s the first step in building trust and relationships everywhere.