I find it adorably naive that Hogie thinks Officer Crowley was so gosh-darned polite to Gates when he opened the door, just like Andy Griffith, explaining why he was there and asking right away if he was the resident of the home. And then, what the heck, would you believe it, next thing you know Gates is flying off the handle like a madman.

It is not in dispute that the first thing that Crowley did when he showed up is not explain who he was and what he was doing there, but demanded that Gates step out of his house. This is clearly what set Gates on edge. Had Crowley picked up on several cues (man has no compunction about answering the door, is elderly, walks with a cane, is wearing a dorky outfit that reeks of upper-middle-classdom) that clearly outweighed the only cue that he may be a burglar (he is black and therefore matches a description given by a passer-by), this could have been avoided. I don't think Crowley consciously acted in a racist manner, but he certainly subconsciously ignored a lot of cues that should have led him to act a little more civilly.

Instead Crowley himself initiated a confrontational tone and Gates, who is obviously not used to being treated that way, escalated the situation, and voila, a national controversy.