Sharpton calls for national dialogue on racial profiling

Without better guidance on racial profiling, the nation will simply hurtle from "incident to incident," the Rev. Al Sharpton said Friday.

Sharpton, in an interview on MSNBC, praised President Obama's call to Sgt. James Crowley of the Cambridge, Mass., Police Department Friday, saying it was the "right thing to do as a leader." But he added the president "has nothing to apologize for since there is no case pending," noting the disorderly charge against prominent Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. was dropped by the prosecutor.

Sharpton said a "proactive dialogue" on racial profiling could be an outgrowth of incident. He told Newsday that Obama showed "leadership to reach out and try to move past the emotions of the issue."

"I think what I'm more focused on is his saying we ought to deal with a real dialogue on race," Sharpton said.

Sharpton called for a conference on racial profiling, similar to one convened during the Clinton administration.

"We need to take this from who was screaming at who, to what is the law," Sharpton said. "What is the policeman's legal boundaries and, for that matter, what is Professor Gates' boundaries . . . Otherwise, we're going to be back here again in a month, six months, whatever."

Sharpton plans to discuss the issue further during his radio broadcast on WLIB 1190 Saturday at 10 a.m.

Article: [link to www.newsday.com]