If my neighbors and the police thought that I was so stupid I'd try to burglarize a house through the front door at one in the afternoon.

Professor Gates, I venture to guess, is smart enough to go around the back if he wants to commit a burglary. Or, just maybe, do it at night.

Nobody behaved well here. Part of it has to do with personal temperament, and part of it has to do with the racism that still conditions the way all people of all races see each other in this country. Other parts of it have to do with class, and job description.

I'd be willing to bet of it probably has to do with the way that (working class?) Cambridge police feel patronized by the people who work at Harvard and other elite institutions in the area. In that regard, Professor Gates probably has a few asshole white colleagues to thank for his treatment, as well as police arrogance, racism and his own yelling.