E. Denise Simmons is the current mayor of Cambridge, Massachusetts, and is the first openly lesb1an African-American mayor in the United States. The previous mayor of Cambridge, Kenneth Reeves, was the first openly gay African-American mayor in the United States.On Thursday morning, the mayor of Cambridge, E. Denise Simmons, said she had been in contact with Professor Gates, and had apologized to him on behalf of the city of Cambridge, but she said she had not yet spoken to Sergeant Crowley. The mayor said she was still gathering information about the arrest, and planned to have meetings with the police department. On Tuesday she issued a statement saying that she was "pleased" that the charges had been dropped.
Though the joint statement he issued with the city, the police force and the Middlesex district attorney's office on Tuesday said the matter was resolved, Professor Gates has continued to speak about the incident in national media interviews, and President Obama's remarks kept it in the spotlight.
"The president did say that he was friends with Professor Gates," Mayor Simmons said in a telephone interview. "Like the rest of us, he had not yet heard all the facts. I don't want to make a comment based on the president's comments."
Although the mayor, who is black, would not comment when asked if she had any concerns about racial profiling in the city's police department, she said that she hoped the incident would spur an instructive dialogue about race.
"Is there a problem with race issues in the county? Yes," she said. "Is there a problem with it in Massachusetts? Yes there is. In Cambridge, we are a small part of society, and we're trying to be proactive.
"I am looking at this situation as opportunity to have open and candid conversations around our city. How do we make this a place where everyone can feel safe?"