What more can be said about the Trayvon Martin tragedy that has not already been said? Two factors that must be resolved before we can move forward are the propensity of police to deal with some crimes presumptuously, and the tendency of blacks and whites to view racial controversies through different prisms.

One thing is certain: A young man, seemingly guilty of nothing worse than being in the right place at the wrong time, is dead. Less certain is whether the person responsible for his death will be prosecuted.

I have had a long career of dealing with police shootings and racial polarization. For 12 years, I was the mayor of Rochester, N.Y., a city with strong connections to Sanford. Of more than 40,000 African-Americans who moved to Rochester between 1950 and 1970, more of them came from Sanford than any other place. The lure was a more stable lifestyle for migrant workers.

Between 1975 and 1993, when I headed the local Urban League, 14 black citizens died at the hands of Rochester police. In every instance, officials were quick to conclude that police were justified in their use of deadly force. A huge chasm developed between the city government, the police and the African-American community.

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