An NBC/Wall Street Journal poll published four days ago showed that, as our "national conversation" about race gets pumped by Eric Holder, Al Sharpton and like-minded opinion leaders, Americans view race relations as having hit their lowest point since the last century.
The reason for this seems evident to me. The "national conversation" is not designed to promote understanding, cooperation or "healing" -- the usual goals we get lectured about. It's designed to promote anger, resentment and grievance. The poll suggests it's succeeding.
It was taken, of course, before the yesterday's avowedly racist police assassinations.
I have no idea what a "national conversation" about race would accomplish.
For what it is worth, I being in the purported white-male ruling class can sort of understand the grievances of some minority groups. For example, the poorest ethnic groups in the US are Native Americans and blacks who were treated the worse. I don't think you can just white wash the fact we forced the Native Americans onto reservations and generally treated them poorly. Same is true with blacks and segregation. That being said, the solutions to this is complicated and not as simple as affirmative action or government handouts.
I think if we looked at other groups historically treated poorly in other countries we would observe similar legacy problems such as Australian Aborigines and blacks in South Africa (should be noted the government's current discriminate against white laws have not made things better. Affirmative action is not the solution).