Drinking beer at the White House

Was it a "teachable moment" when President Obama, Harvard Prof. Henry Louis Gates Jr. and Cambridge, Mass., Police Sgt. James Crowley drank beer at the White House on Thursday evening? Maybe not, as Gates and Crowley "agreed to disagree" after a cordial conversation.

President Obama turned a mole hill into a mountain a couple of weeks ago when he said the policeman acted "stupidly" by arresting Gates, a prominent African-American scholar, for disorderly conduct at his Cambridge home during a burglary investigation. According to a black police officer who was with Crowley during the incident, the veteran sergeant did everything by the book.

Apparently Gates, who was returning from a trip, misplaced his key and had to break into his own home. A neighbor called 911 and Crowley and his partner were dispatched to investigate. But when the policemen asked Gates for ID, the professor flew off the handle and started shouting about being "a black man in America" - a page out of the tired old Jesse Jackson/Al Sharpton playbook.

Crowley arrested a very agitated Gates for disorderly conduct, but the charges were dropped when police realized that the professor was in his own home.

During a news conference, President Obama fanned the flames by defending his friend Gates and saying that Crowley acted "stupidly." After Gates demanded an apology and Crowley refused, Obama called the incident a "teachable moment" in race relations and invited both men to the White House for a beer.

In my view, Obama and Gates should have immediately apologized to Crowley, who did nothing wrong.

Race relations is still a sensitive topic in our country, but the situation has improved markedly since I tried to integrate my college fraternity in the mid-1950s - definitely not a popular move, not even in "enlightened" Seattle.

I think we turned the race relations corner by electing Obama last November. But the Jesse Jacksons and Al Sharptons of this world don't know how to declare victory and move on. To them, everything is race-related, and Gates fell into their trap by shouting "racism" and refusing to cooperate with the police.

Veteran CBS newsman Bob Schieffer put things into perspective when he said that Gates should have responded, "You know, I shouldn't have popped off, but it's been a long, hard day." And Crowley could have said, "Sorry, I didn't mean to insult you when I asked for ID; I was just trying to do my job."

Apparently, the professor and the policeman had that rational conversation on Thursday. I applaud President Obama for bringing them together.

• Guy W. Farmer, of Carson City, is a retired diplomat who believes in "beer diplomacy."