The most troubling thing about the debate that swirled around the country following the recent arrest of Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. in his own home was the number of people who refuse to believe that racial discrimination ever happens.

Upon arriving home from a trip, Gates had difficulty getting into his house because the front door was jammed. A neighbor called police and reported two men trying to break into the house. When police arrived, Gates had already entered his house, but he was forced to produce identification, which he said was because he was black. He exchanged words with police and was arrested for disorderly conduct, but charges were later dropped.

Let us be absolutely clear on this. I am referring now to the broader issue of discrimination that the Gates case raised.

What amazed me as I listened to, or read comments about the subject, was the fact that so many people automatically dismissed the suggestion of racial bias, and implied that racial discrimination doesn't happen.

I suppose some people have not experienceddiscrimination first-hand. No white dude has ever been pulled over for DWB (Driving While Black).

DWB refers to being stopped by police because of the color of one's skin. Some argue that this doesn't happen, but when one considers how common these reports are, and the number of prominent, well-educated black men who say they have been victims of DWB, it is difficult to ignore.

Some African American men say they have been pulled over when driving a well-kept expensive car, just so officers could see if it belonged to them. Others say they have been questioned by authorities just to verify that they belonged where they were.

Most law enforcement officers do an excellent job, but they are people, and a few of them may sometimes make questionable decisions.

Many years ago, a co-worker and I were sent to do some demolition as part of remodeling project. We arrived early on a Saturday morning and entered the office. A very loud security alarm immediately began to go off. The cops arrived and found us standing in the middle of the office. I was holding a large crowbar, and my co-worker was holding a sledgehammer. The officers never asked us for any identification. They said, "Your alarm is going off. You might want to shut that off." Then, they turned around and left. I have often wondered how differently that situation might have gone if we had been black.

The concern that the Gates controversy brought to light involves people who would probably never consider themselves racist, but whose attitudes and beliefs perpetuate discrimination.

Some people seem surprised when people of color appear frustrated or irritated when confronted with racism. One wonders why this should surprise anyone, since these seem to be perfectly reasonable reactions under the circumstances.

Discrimination is never much fun if one is among those who are being discriminated against.

I suspect that if the cops started hassling all the well-nourished bald guys with chin whiskers, I might soon find this tiresome. Discrimination based on appearance is frustrating, and if one has spent one's life fighting to overcome this sort of thing, it must be doubly so.

During my last year in high school, the principal developed a habit of stopping me in the hall whenever he caught sight of me, asking me if I belonged there, and demanding to see my student identification.

He had a "PhD" behind his name, but he didn't have much common sense, and all the "long hairs" looked alike to him. Despite my scholastic achievement, all he could see was my long hair.

I felt sorry for him. It must have been difficult to go through life immersed in paranoia and fear.

The long hair I had at the time proved that appearance affects behavior.

I had a little game that I played in those days.

I would tuck my long hair up under my hat and go into a store.

Generally, the employees were friendly and helpful.

Later, I would return to the store with my hair flowing free.

The same clerks who had been so helpful before would either ignore me or treat me with fear and suspicion, following me around as if convinced I was there to steal something.

Instead of smiling, their faces reminded me of the expression one might see on the face of a vegetarian who has just discovered a large green caterpillar crouched among the lettuce leaves in her salad.

How often have people of certain ethnic groups seen this same expression, I wonder?

I had the option of cutting my hair, but a person who is black, hispanic, or of asian descent cannot hide the way he looks (nor should he have to).

To ignore racism or deny its existence is to allow it to continue.

We also need to be careful not to go too far in the other direction. We can no more assume that every incident that affects a person of color is the result of racism than we can assume that none of these incidents involve racism.

Some people are a bit too eager to throw out the race card at every opportunity, and these people damage the cause of equality more than they help it. Like the boy who cried wolf, those who cry racism where it does not apply make it more difficult for those who have been victimized to be heard.

The only way we can move forward is to have an open and honest dialogue about race and discrimination. These problems cannot be solved by laws alone. It is not enough to say all men are created equal. We must acknowledge and adjust our attitudes and our prejudices if we are to realize the dream of freedom for all.

If we allow discrimination against one group of people, there is no telling who might be next. That is the problem with enabling this kind of behavior. Today's bystanders could become tomorrow's victims.

When conflicts do arise, we must carefully consider the facts in each case.

We have come a long way in this country, and we cannot allow complacency or naiveté to prevent us from finishing the journey.

在最近的哈佛大学教授亨利.路易斯 盖特于自家被捕之后，围绕美国的大辩论中最令人头疼的莫过于很多人仍然不愿意相信种族歧视事件一直在发生。

由于前门被堵住了，盖特旅行到家后很难进入自家的房子。一个邻居报警说有两个男人正试图破门进入他家。当警察赶到的时候，盖特已经进屋了，但警察仍然强制他进行身份识别，而据盖特说，这就是因为他是黑人。他与警察吵起来并被以妨害治安的理由逮捕了，对他的起诉后来也进行了。

让我们对这个案件更清楚地了解。现在我会参考更多事件，这些事件都涉及到盖特案件中表现出来的歧视。

在我听说或者阅读相关种族主义的主题时，让我惊讶的是如此多的人自动忽略了对种族偏见的建议，并暗示种族歧视并没有发生。

我猜很多人没有直接接触过种族歧视的事件。不会有白人因为DWB（因为是黑人司机所以要靠边停车）而要靠边停车。

DWB是指因为司机的肤色而被警察拦下。有人争辩说这类事件没有发生过，但只要有人注意到这类事件的报道是多么普遍，并且很多知名而受过良好教育的黑人也说他们曾经是DWB的受害者时，这个问题就很难忽略了。

有一些非洲裔美国人说他们曾经在驾驶一辆保养很好很昂贵的车时被拦下，这样官员可以看这辆车是否属于他们。另一些朔他们曾经被当局盘问这些车到底属于哪里。

大多数执法官员工作出色，但他们始终是人，他们中有一小部分可能有时会做出惹人质疑的决定。

多年以前，一个同事和我被派去做一些拆除工作，这些是作为改造项目的一部分的。我们在一个星期六的大早上到达并去了办公室。一阵非常吵的安全警铃马上响起来。警察赶到发现我们站在办公室中间。我拿着一根很大的撬棍，我的同事拿着一把大锤。警察并没有向我们盘问身份。他们说："你们的警铃响了，可能你们想要关了它。"然后他们就转身离开了。我经常想那时如果我们是黑人情况会多么不同。

关于盖特事件的论战揭示了这样一些人，他们可能从来不认为自己是种族主义者，而他们的态度和信念却让歧视一直存在。

当有些人发现有色人种遭遇种族歧视显得沮丧或者恼怒时，他们看起来很吃惊。这很奇怪，因为这些似乎是人在这种情况下最合情合理的反应，这不应该会使任何人吃惊。

对于那些身处歧视中的人来说，歧视从来都不是一件多有趣的事情。

我怀疑，如果警察开始对所有营养充分、下巴有胡子的秃头伙计进行激战的话，我可能很快就会觉得这很讨厌了。基于外表的歧视是会让人沮丧的，如果一个人毕其一生之力来战胜这种事情，那会加倍地沮丧。

在我高三的时候，校长习惯在大厅里拦住我，不管他是什么时候看见我的，他问我是哪个班级的，并要求查看我的学生证。

在他的名字后面有博士头衔，但他却没有多少常识，所有的"长毛"他都很喜欢管。不管我的学术成绩怎么样，他能看见的就只有我的长头发。

我觉得很对不起他。把一生都沉浸在偏执和恐惧里一定是很难熬的。

我那时留的长头发证明了人的表现影响别人的行为。

那些日子我玩一个小游戏。

我会把我的长头发藏到帽子里然后去商店。

通常，商店的员工都很友好并乐于助人。

然后，我把头发放下来，再去那家商店。

之前友好助人的雇员不是无视我，就是用恐惧和怀疑的态度对待我，跟着我到处走，好像确信我到这商店来是为了偷东西的。

他们不微笑了，他们的脸上的表情让我想起了一个素食主义者刚发现她的生菜沙拉里蜷缩着一条绿色的毛虫的神情。

我想知道，在某些有相同看法的人脸上多久能看到一次相同的表情呢？

我可以选择剪掉头发，但一个黑人、西班牙人、或亚洲人自降生就无法隐藏他的样子（他也不是必须要这样做）。

忽视或者否认种族主义的存在就是允许歧视继续发生。

我们也需要当心，不在其他方向上走的太远。我们不能假定每个影响到有色人种的事件都是种族主义的结果，我们更不能假设每个此类事件都跟种族歧视无关。

有些人是有点太急于抓住每一个机会抛弃种族牌,而这些人所造成的对平等的损害远远超过他们的帮助。

我们前进唯一的办法就是对于种族和歧视进行开放、诚实的对话。这些问题只通过法律是不能解决的。只是嘴上说上帝创造所有人都是平等的，这是不够的。如果要实现所有人的自由之梦，我们必须承认并调整我们的态度和偏见。

如果我们允许对某个群体的歧视，那不知道谁会是下一个。那会使这种歧视行为变成可能。今天的旁观者有可能就是明天的受害者。

当斗争升级时，我们必须谨慎考虑每个事件的情况。

在我们这个国家，我们还有一段很长的路要走，我们不能允许自满或天真来阻止我们完成这段旅程。
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