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Three men sitting down at a table and drinking beer on a summer's afternoon. What could be more American? What could be more amicable? What could be a better end to the Gates-Crowley affair?

While all parties involved downplayed the importance of the meeting in the White House's Rose Garden, what it represented was as heartening as it was symbolic.

Crowley, the Cambridge police officer who arrested Henry Louis Gates, Jr. on July 16^th outside the Harvard scholar's home, Gates, and President Obama sat down to have a civilized discussion on the events following the arrest, and the state of race in America. At least, we can assume that's what was discussed, as all three remain tight-lipped on the details of the conversation.

It's maybe for the best that we won't know what was said at their meeting—the gesture of the three sitting down together and sharing a friendly pint expresses far more than any transcript ever could. And yet, were we to know Gates and Crowley's thoughts on the matter after the dust has settled, not to mention Obama's, it would give us a much better idea of whether or not all the fuss was warranted, and whether or not we should still be outraged.

As so many of you have indicated in your comments, this is an issue that, no matter what side of the debate you're on, is far from settled. Two of the men concerned are actively involved in addressing matters of race in America, the third is in a position to actually make a difference where it counts—on the streets of an American city.

Whether the talk was of baseball or history or politics, I for one am glad this particular event can be put to rest. No doubt all three of these men have attained some valuable insight through the process. Have the rest of us?