Gates Gate

Colin Powell Rebukes Gates

General: I was racially profiled "many times."

Former Secretary of State Colin Powell jumped into the fray on issues surrounding the arrest of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on Tuesday night with a rebuke of the Harvard professor. Having been the victim of racial profiling "many times" himself, Powell said Gates should have practiced more restraint with the police officer who arrested him. "I think [Gates] should have reflected on whether or not this was the time to make that big a deal," Powell said on Larry King Live of the Gates' interaction with Sgt. James Crowley. Powell scolded the Cambridge Police Department as well, but emphasized controlling one's anger: "There is no African American in this country who has not been exposed to this kind of situation," Powell said. "Do you get angry? Yes. Do you manifest that anger? Do you protest? Do you try to get things fixed? But it's the better course of action to try and take it easy and don’t let your anger make the current situation worse."