Over the last decade, Charlton Heston was known mostly for his tenacious, if rocky, leadership of the National Rifle Association, holiday reruns of “The Ten Commandments,” and his sad diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease. Most of his obituaries this week recognized him as a bedrock conservative and, certainly, at least later in life, he was that. But the political impact that Heston had on me, as a kid growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, was purely progressive.

Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race has started a national conversation, but it remains to be seen if our top politicians will take a constructive leadership role in that dialogue. Here's how they can.

Two interrelated and unacceptable trends have emerged: warehousing over rehabilitation and bias over equal justice. The priorities that should drive our justice system—crime prevention, protection of the public, and fair treatment for all—have given way to the unwise and unequal approach of “prison-fits-all.”

As the Bush administration files an optimistic report to the United Nations on the state of equal opportunity in America, a parallel report by independent experts documents the significant ways in which our government has fallen short in ensuring equal opportunity.

For those of us who study the interaction of race, politics and the media, the events of the last few weeks in the Clinton-Obama electoral slugfest were painfully familiar. It's a script designed to make voters choose racial sides—and neutralize black candidates.

Over the last decade, Charlton Heston was known mostly for his tenacious, if rocky, leadership of the National Rifle Association, holiday reruns of “The Ten Commandments,” and his sad diagnosis with Alzheimer's disease. Most of his obituaries this week recognized him as a bedrock conservative and, certainly, at least later in life, he was that. But the political impact that Heston had on me, as a kid growing up in the 1960s and 1970s, was purely progressive.

Sen. Barack Obama's speech on race has started a national conversation, but it remains to be seen if our top politicians will take a constructive leadership role in that dialogue. Here's how they can.

Two interrelated and unacceptable trends have emerged: warehousing over rehabilitation and bias over equal justice. The priorities that should drive our justice system—crime prevention, protection of the public, and fair treatment for all—have given way to the unwise and unequal approach of “prison-fits-all.”

As the Bush administration files an optimistic report to the United Nations on the state of equal opportunity in America, a parallel report by independent experts documents the significant ways in which our government has fallen short in ensuring equal opportunity.

For those of us who study the interaction of race, politics and the media, the events of the last few weeks in the Clinton-Obama electoral slugfest were painfully familiar. It's a script designed to make voters choose racial sides—and neutralize black candidates.