Light at the end of the tunnel

Despite the salt the upcoming Trayvon Martin trial will rub into the nation's racial wounds, all is not lost. In a lengthy interview with Rolling Stone, President Obama explains why:

"I never bought into the notion that by electing me, somehow we were entering into a post-racial period ... [But] when I travel around the country, a lot of people remark on how inspiring seeing an African-American president or an African-American first lady must be to black boys and girls, how it must raise their sense of what's possible in their own lives. That's hugely important – but you shouldn't also underestimate the fact that there are a whole bunch of little white girls and white boys all across the country who just take it for granted that there's an African-American president. That's the president they're growing up with, and that's changing attitudes. My view on race has always been that it's complicated. It's not just a matter of head – it's a matter of heart. It's about interactions. What happens in the workplace, in schools, on sports fields, and through music and culture shapes racial attitudes as much as any legislation that's passed. I do believe that we're making slow and steady progress. When I talk to Malia and Sasha, the world they're growing up with, with their friends, is just very different from the world that you and I grew up with."

A perspective worth keeping in mind. Can you imagine "President Romney" being as thoughtful?