There has been much discussion on this topic among Green Party Black Caucus  members during the annual meeting of the Green Party here in Durham. Some of us have acknowledged our bias towards Henry Louis (Skip) Gates. The  story told below provides some important information about Cambridge and the  Gates incident. Some of us thought it was Gates who called Harvard to further  confirm his status. Never the less, Gates expected special treatment from the  police because he is a professor at Harvard. Gates lives in the Harvard Square  area and not in the field area of the plantation known as Cambridge. Gates is  your consummate House Negro . Cambridge is not unlike many areas where ivy league schools control the   town. Providence (Brown) and Durham (Duke) are two other places I know a little  about. Brown, Duke and Harvard are the main source of employment in their towns.  The schools are often referred to as plantations by conscious Afrodescendents  who live and work in the towns. All of the schools pride themselves on liberal  attitudes towards race. However, every school has issues with labor rights for  service employees. The lowest paid employees at Brown, Duke and Harvard fought  for years to get union representation. They still fight every day for basic  rights on the job and living wages. There is a house versus field employment  situation at all three institutions. Obama is in the spotlight to play out his role as number one House   Negro . Once again, Obama is reminded that he strayed too far from his comfort   area of the plantation. His liberal supporters are not comfortable with him   supporting any outrage or resistance to the usual treatment of Afrodescendents.  Even if it happens to another House Negro . The pressure should now be on Gates and all public intellectuals to say   more and do more in support of us working the field. Will they speak out in   support of us who can't retreat to Martha's Vineyard or some other affluent zip  code when we're under fire by overseers in this police state plantation known as  the USA? For now, Gates is all about Gates. Trying to get up with his colleague in   the White House, Gates looks for unity among the House Negro class to help him  out of his moment of straying too far off the plantation. The sum up of the discussion among members of the Green Party Black  Caucus in Durham, Gates, you're on your own. Will Gates and other public intellectuals engage in some introspection   while one of their own is in the White House? Time will tell........ Theresa El-Amin Durham NC