Obama, Cop & Professor: Beer on Thursday!

Black professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. says he would have a beer at the White House with President Obama and the Cambridge, Mass., cop who arrested him.

Gates, a professor at Harvard University and friend of Obama, told The Boston Globe in an e-mail that he would join the other two.

“My entire academic career has been based on improving race relations, not exacerbating them,” Gates said. “It is time for all of us to move on, and to assess what we can learn from this experience.”

Sgt. James Crowley charged Gates with disorderly conduct after a confrontation that began with a call about a burglary in progress. The burglary turned out to be Gates, with help from a cab driver, trying to force open the door
of his own house after returning from a trip to China.

Obama angered police officers in Cambridge and elsewhere by telling reporters Crowley acted “stupidly.” But he cooled the dispute Friday with calls to both men.

“Sergeant Crowley was profoundly grateful that the president took time out of his busy schedule to attempt to resolve this situation,” three Massachusetts police unions said in a statement.