guest: so when you said the case of henry louis gates, you're talking about when he was arrested in his own home? >> host: yes. >> guest: first of all, henry louis gates jr. is a university professor -- there are not very much very many of them, it's the highest level of professor at harvard university, he's certainly one of the most well known professors in the united states, probably the world -- he's a very privileged character, a very impressive person. and he, you know, one of the leading, most influential intellectuals in american life. he had at his disposal in america what the great w.e.b. duboise could only have imagined to have had. so when you say henry louis gates jr., you know, the trajectory of his life is an illustration of how american life has opened up tremendously over, you know, the past 100 years. at the same time, here you have this guy, a university professor. he takes a trip to china, he comes home, he finds that his door won't open. is so he and the man who drove him home, you know, cab driver or livery driver, they jiggle with the door. a neighbor says, calls up the place and says i don't know for sure whether there's a break-in

henry louis gates and how significant is that. >> guest: when you said that, when he was arrested in his own home? henry louis gates jr. is a university professor. there are not many of them. it is the highest level of professor of harvard university. one of the most well known professors in the united states, probably the world. is a very privileged character. very impressive person and one of the leading, most influential intellectuals in american life. he has at his disposal in america what the great w. e. b. dubois could only have imagined to have had. when you say henry louis gates jr. the trajectory of his life is an illustration of how american life has opened up tremendously over the past 100 years. at the same and time you have this guy who is a university professor who takes a trip to china, he comes home and finds his door won't open. so he and the man who drove him home, cabdriver or livery driver giggle with the door, a neighbor says -- called the police and says i don't know for sure whether it is a break in going on but these two guys who look like they're trying to jeter with the door to get in a don't