American’s most famous black scholar breaks into own home, charged by cops

Sometimes life imitates art, sometimes it imitates a Tom Wolfe novel. Last Thursday, Henry Louis Gates jr. -- one of the foremost black scholars and historians in America -- was spied forcing his way into his own home. A neighbour, called police, who found Gates (who’d apparently just locked himself out) sitting inside. The cops demanded ID, Gates allegedly declined. Words were exchanged, tempers rose, and Gates ended up in jail. Al Sharpton is now involved, of course. "I’ve heard of driving while black and ... shopping while black. I’ve never heard of living in a home while black," says Sharpton

Boston Herald