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Obama, Gates, policeman pledge to try and move on
(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-07-31 08:06

Obama, Gates, policeman pledge to try and move on

US President Barack Obama (R) sits down for a beer with Harvard scholar Henry Louis Gates (2nd L), Cambridge, Massachusetts, police Sergeant James Crowley (2nd R) and Vice President Joe Biden to try to start a dialogue on better race relations in the Rose Garden at the White House in Washington, July 30, 2009. Crowley arrested Gates for disorderly conduct in his own home July 16 while investigating a report of a burglary in process. Obama inflamed tensions by saying police had "acted stupidly," prompting him to back down from the remark. [Agencies] Obama, Gates, policeman pledge to try and move on  

The White House meeting drew such media interest that press secretary Robert Gibbs said he looked forward to facing no more questions about what beers each man would drink. For the record, it was Bud Light for Obama, Sam Adams Light for Gates, Blue Moon for Crowley and nonalcoholic Buckler for Biden.

Before the photo-op moment of diplomacy, Obama said he was "fascinated by the fascination about this evening."

"Hopefully, instead of ginning up anger and hyperbole everybody can just spend a little bit of time with some self-reflection and recognizing that other people have different points of view."

Obama said last week the episode could be a "teachable moment" on improving relations between police and minority communities.

In practice, that boiled down to a good, productive conversation. The hope, in turn, was that people in communities across the nation would see the meeting as a model for how to solve differences — more listening, less shooting from the lip.

The White House said it did not pay for any transportation or other accommodation costs for Gates or Crowley.

At the time of the incident, Gates had demanded an apology from Crowley and called him a "rogue policeman." After Obama's "acted stupidly" comment, Crowley said that, while he supported the president, Obama was "way off base wading into a local issue without knowing all the facts."