Slowly, slowly with today's Gates "shocker"--updated!
So: Lucia Whalen, the woman who triggered Gatesgate, is disputing the notion that she identified Skip Gates and his driver as black. What does that tell us?
Maybe not too much. For one thing, as Dan Kennedy rightly notes, the details remain extremely muddled. The original police report has Whalen identifying Gates and his driver by race in a discussion with Crowley at the scene. The Herald, which has Whalen saying she never mentioned race at all, suggests that she's disputing this part of the account. The Globe, which has Whalen saying she didn't mention race in the 911 call, suggests she might not be.
Also, let's remember that even if Whalen didn't mention race in her call--or at the scene--she still might not have dialed the Cambridge PD if the men weren't black.
Like most of you, I expect, I'm eager for this story to fade away. This latest twist is going to prolong it a bit, but we should still hold off on giving it undue significance.
NOTE: I've revised this post to emphasize the divergence in the Globe and Herald's accounts.