But that’s not what happened. Some individuals and groups reacted reflexively to the incident and the president's comments. Most, however, did not. Many prominent African Americans even reacted with shock and surprise. Bill Cosby, the day after the president’s news conference, said “I was shocked to hear the president making this kind of statement.”

By Friday, as the situation continued to escalate, it was evident that the White House had lost control of the story. Obama, who had resisted backing away from his comments, did an about face. Shortly after Cambridge police union representatives appeared with Sgt. Crowley at a news conference, defending his actions and saying the President should apologize, Obama acted to defuse the situation, without apologizing, by calling Crowley and Gates and inviting them to join him for a beer at the White House.

The president’s motivation for criticizing the Cambridge police remains obscure. As he is not likely to share it with us, we can only speculate. Was it just an ‘off-the-cuff’ gaffe? That's very unlikely.

Presidential press secretaries, in this case Robert Gibbs, and the president's staff prepare very thick briefing books for the president prior to every news conference. Those books contain a broad spectrum of questions the White House press corps likely will ask. The president goes over the questions and recommended answers with his top advisors to refine and sharpen them. Even the grammatically challenged George W. Bush followed this well-established procedure, although he was more likely than Obama to stray from the script.

Even when a president doesn’t speak the precise words he decides to use in advance, he knows the message he wants to convey and uses words consistent with that message. When tens of millions of Americans are watching, politicians skilled enough to win the presidency in the Internet/YouTube age know better than to leave how they answer any question to chance.

The point here is that Obama anticipated this question and was prepared to answer it. Gibbs confirmed this on Fox News Sunday. The president wasn't caught off guard; if he had been he likely would have given the stock answer. “It’s not appropriate for me to comment on this matter until all the facts are known.” But he consciously chose not to.

This leaves us with the perplexing question, did President Obama deliberately play the so-called ‘race card,’ and if he did for what purpose? Was he trying to divert attention from his problems with healthcare reform, rally minority support in the face of declining approval ratings, or raise an issue that Democrats have traditionally used to attack Republicans in the face of increasingly effective criticism of him by people on the right? We just don’t know.

Race continues to play a major role in American politics, and it will for a long time to come. But now we have an African-American president. Increasingly there are exemplary white police officers around the country like Sgt. Crowley who teach courses on racial profiling at police academies. Respected African Americans like Bill Cosby aren’t afraid to speak up when they feel other African Americans, even the President of the United States, are out of bounds on race. And even renowned African-American professors like Gates, can’t credibly claim they’ve been the victims of racial profiling if it isn't true.

Still, whether you're an African-American Harvard professor, the President of the United States, or anyone with access to the media, accusations and inferences of racial profiling or racism are devastating weapons that can do immeasurable harm.

We still have a long way to go before we become a colorblind society, but we’re getting there. And after last week, perhaps fewer people will jump to conclusions when someone makes an accusation of racial profiling before they have all the facts.