Amid claims of racism, authorities in Cambridge, Mass., have abandoned charges of disorderly conduct against Harvard University Professor Henry Louis Gates, the world-renowned African-American scholar arrested last week after trying to gain entry into his own home. Initially, police in the Boston suburb claimed that Gates, 58, who had just returned from a trip to China, displayed “loud and tumultuous behavior” against officers who showed up at his home after a neighbor called police to report that an intruder was trying to break into a home. Gates said he immediately told officers that he was merely having a hard time opening his door. On Tuesday, Cambridge Police Department issued a statement saying, “The City of Cambridge, the Cambridge Police Department, and Professor Gates acknowledge that the incident of July 16, 2009 was regrettable and unfortunate. This incident should not be viewed as one that demeans the character and reputation of Professor Gates or the character of the Cambridge Police Department,” the statement said, adding that the charges were dropped. But the statement will do little to draw back the embarrassment experienced by Gates, and the incident serves as a reminder that even a preeminent Black scholar can be manhandled based on race. “I’m outraged that this could happen to me in my own home but I’m outraged that it could happen to any individual,” Gates said in an interview with The Washington Post. He called the episode “deeply painful and traumatic,” saying he would use it as the basis for a documentary on “racial profiling.”