Both President Barack Obama and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. say that Gates’s arrest last week supplied the nation a “teachable moment” about race in America. We agree.

First, we find it remarkable that this quite minor incident—where a misunderstanding led to an arguably questionable arrest that was quickly reversed, and in which the racial motivation of the police officer wasn’t overt, if it existed at all—has been the biggest race story of Obama’s presidency. Given some of the racially charged moments in the presidential campaign (particularly surrounding Jeremiah Wright), the past six months have been remarkably calm on this front.

Second, this incident does reveal how explosive the subject of race remains in America. We at theTrumpet.com are interested in the subject because of biblical prophecies that strongly indicate race problems growing violent and even deadly in America in our day. Thus, as welcome as six months of relative racial calm are, sadly we don’t expect that to continue.

Professor Gates and the president are convinced this case illustrates a pervasive problem of racial profiling. Sgt. James Crowley, the arresting officer, has taught classes on how to avoid racial profiling for five years. He has an impeccable record with no hint of any racial biases. Yet to his detractors, that is simply evidence of how deep-rooted his racism really is.

Professor Gates himself says that the individual who called the police when seeing him and his driver trying to pry open his jammed front door did the right thing. But when Sergeant Crowley responded to the report, Gates accused, “Is this how you treat a black man in America?” Gates later called Sgt. James Crowley a “rogue policeman” who “couldn’t stand a black man standing up for his rights.” Crowley “presumed that I was guilty because I was black,” Gates assumes. “There was no doubt about that.”

In speaking to the press about the incident shortly afterward, the president was quick to link it with America’s history of racial profiling. “[T]here is a long history in this country of African-Americans and Latinos being stopped by law enforcement disproportionately,” he explained. In clarifying his remarks on Friday, he said: “Because of our history, because of the difficulties of the past, African-Americans are sensitive to these issues. And even when you’ve got a police officer who has a fine track record on racial sensitivity, interactions between police officers and the African-American community can sometimes be fraught with misunderstanding.”

It’s sad but true. A policeman with a fine track record on racial sensitivity responding to a report of burglary can be accused of racism. He can be pilloried nationally—even by the president—for not meekly submitting to these belligerent accusations. Fraught with misunderstanding indeed.

This truly was a “teachable moment.” It teaches us how easy it would be for even minor incidents and misunderstandings to open the door to viler and even violent expressions of racial hatred. Read our article “Will a Black President Heal America’s Race Wounds?” for more on the Bible’s prophecies on race relations.