It's Time for Our Nation to Talk about Race

The president called a news conference to rally the nation around healthcare reform. Then he steered his comments to the intersection of race and authority in America and lost control of the message.

In politico-speak, he crashed and burned.

Healthcare -- which affects one-sixth of the nation's economy -- got lost in the political dust up over race and allegations of racial profiling in the town of Cambridge, Mass. The national media's focus over the weekend remained on strained relations and long-standing mistrust between black men and police -- and whether the president had unfairly maligned a white police officer and his agency.

President Barack Obama admits he inflamed tensions Wednesday by commenting on the disorderly conduct arrest of his friend, Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. Mr. Obama initially said Cambridge police had ``acted stupidly'' by handcuffing the professor in his home once the officer had established that Mr. Gates was not a burglar. Police have since dropped the disorderly charge.

On Friday, Mr. Obama called Cambridge Police Sgt. Jim Crowley to apologize for his ``choice'' of words and reiterated that this was a ``teachable'' moment. He talked about how Mr. Gates ``probably overreacted,'' when he got upset that police were asking him for ID and that police overreacted by booking a middle-aged professor for the crime of being cranky.

In an effort to turn the page on a bad chapter, the president talked about getting the guys together for a beer at the White House, maybe as soon as this week.

This surely is a moment for people of good will to share their viewpoints about race, their personal experiences and their hopes for a new post-racial era.

We can start by everyone -- white, black, brown -- admitting that America's ugly racist history has left scars, and that racism (drawing conclusions about others based on their race) is practiced by individuals of every ethnic or racial group. Sometimes inadvertently -- still too often, intentionally.

The conversation also must include the legitimate fears police officers of all races have when they knock on a door, stop a car or bust into a building not knowing who's on the other side.

After six months of gliding gently on issues of race, Mr. Obama has found himself caught up in a heartfelt and personal moment as a man of African heritage who has written about being stopped by police when he was younger and the fears such stops raise among black and brown men.

Let's not miss this opportunity as a nation to talk -- and listen -- honestly about race, how far America has come and still how much more we have to go.