'Beer summit' brings on cheers
Source: Agencies |
August 1, 2009, Saturday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
US President Barack Obama played bartender on Thursday at a "beer summit" of the main players in a racially charged case that he hoped would be a "positive lesson" in a national dialogue on race.
Obama, the first black US president, said it was a "friendly, thoughtful" conversation over beer at the White House with prominent Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who is black, and police Sergeant James Crowley, who is white.
Crowley arrested Gates, a well-known documentary filmmaker, for disorderly conduct on July 16 after a confrontation at the professor's home, sparking a media frenzy as Gates, 58, accused the policeman of racial profiling. Crowley, who had taught courses against racial profiling, denied that. Obama inflamed the situation by saying he thought police "acted stupidly" in arresting his friend.
"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart," Obama said after the meeting in a garden at the Oval Office.
Race remains a prominent and sensitive issue in the United States, which has struggled to overcome a legacy of slavery, segregation and discrimination.
Crowley said it was a private and frank discussion, adding he and Gates have different perspectives.
"I think what you had today was two gentlemen who agreed to disagree on a particular issue," Crowley told reporters. "I don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future."
Asked about the president's contribution to the meeting, Crowley said: "He provided the beer."
Obama, the first black US president, said it was a "friendly, thoughtful" conversation over beer at the White House with prominent Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates, who is black, and police Sergeant James Crowley, who is white.
Crowley arrested Gates, a well-known documentary filmmaker, for disorderly conduct on July 16 after a confrontation at the professor's home, sparking a media frenzy as Gates, 58, accused the policeman of racial profiling. Crowley, who had taught courses against racial profiling, denied that. Obama inflamed the situation by saying he thought police "acted stupidly" in arresting his friend.
"I have always believed that what brings us together is stronger than what pulls us apart," Obama said after the meeting in a garden at the Oval Office.
Race remains a prominent and sensitive issue in the United States, which has struggled to overcome a legacy of slavery, segregation and discrimination.
Crowley said it was a private and frank discussion, adding he and Gates have different perspectives.
"I think what you had today was two gentlemen who agreed to disagree on a particular issue," Crowley told reporters. "I don't think that we spent too much time dwelling on the past. We spent a lot of time discussing the future."
Asked about the president's contribution to the meeting, Crowley said: "He provided the beer."
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