The New York Times in, The Gates Case and Racial Profiling – Room for Debate Blog – NYTimes.com, has a great discussion of the issue.

For the record, I believe that race mattered and that Gates was improperly treated. I also expect that he was (rightly) unhappy and a bit bellicose with the officer (who would not be!) However, I do not think that he was “profiled” by the police because they responded to a phone call about breaking and entering. However, I expect that race mattered in the interaction between Gates and the police.

This is a great discussion.