About Gates’ lesson learned, a couple of things:

Sergeant Crowley and I, through an accident of time and place, have been cast together, inextricably, as characters – as metaphors, really – in a thousand narratives about race over which he and I have absolutely no control.

Nice dodge, but in fact, what we learned is that both principles had a great deal of control over the narrative. Gates exercised it poorly, crying racism, continuing to cry racism, and demanding that Crowley grovel. Crowley exercised his control deftly, maintaining his dignity. When the explosive truth about his background as a non-bigot came out, it was because we … the Boston Herald, the newspaper ...

About Gates’ lesson learned, a couple of things:

Sergeant Crowley and I, through an accident of time and place, have been cast together, inextricably, as characters – as metaphors, really – in a thousand narratives about race over which he and I have absolutely no control.

Nice dodge, but in fact, what we learned is that both principles had a great deal of control over the narrative. Gates exercised it poorly, crying racism, continuing to cry racism, and demanding that Crowley grovel. Crowley exercised his control deftly, maintaining his dignity. When the explosive truth about his background as a non-bigot came out, it was because we … the Boston Herald, the newspaper I work for … ferreted it out with assistance from him or his camp. Then, there is the issue of the lack of control exercised by the president of the United States, who shot from the hip in aid of his friend, casting aspersions while admitting he didn’t know what he was talking about.

The national conversation over the past week about my arrest has been rowdy, not to say tumultuous and unruly. But we’ve learned that we can have our differences without demonizing one another. There’s reason to hope that many people have emerged with greater sympathy for the daily perils of policing, on the one hand, and for the genuine fears about racial profiling, on the other hand.

No kidding. Look at what could have happened to Sgt. Crowley after the way Gates profiled him as another bigot white cop.

Having spent my academic career trying to bridge differences and promote understanding among Americans, I can report that it is far more comfortable being the commentator than being commented upon. At this point, I am hopeful that we can all move on, and that this experience will prove an occasion for education, not recrimination. I know that Sergeant Crowley shares this goal. Both of us are eager to go back to work tomorrow.

So on to the education.