Beer party in white house for black professor and white sergeant

US President Barack Obama invited Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates to the White House as well as Cambridge, Mass., police Sgt. James Crowley after the run-in Crowley and Gates had July 16 at Gates' home. Crowley arrested Gates and handcuffed him at the home after police received a break-in call. Tension and tempers flared unnecessarily. Obama afterward stepped into the fray saying at a health care news conference that the police acted stupidly by arresting the well-known 58-year-old African-American studies professor. Having a beer and talking about race seems to make light of the historically difficult subject of race relations in the United States. But what's really light is the discussion brewing over the different types of beers each man plans to drink. US Vice President Joseph Biden was also present on the occasion.