OBAMA STRUGGLES TO FIND HIS ROLE AFTER BROWN DEATH

When racial tensions erupted midway through his first presidential campaign, Barack Obama came to Philadelphia to decry the "racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years." Over time, he said, such wounds, rooted in America's painful history on race, can be healed.

Six years later, the stalemate suddenly seems more entrenched than ever. As Obama pleads for calm and understanding in Ferguson, Missouri, he's struggling to determine what role - if any - the nation's first black president can play in defusing a crisis that has laid bare the profound sense of injustice felt by African-Americans across the country.

Witnesses have said Brown's hands were above his head when an officer shot him repeatedly on Aug. 9 in Ferguson. But police have said the officer was physically assaulted during a struggle over his weapon. Meanwhile, the aggressive police response to the subsequent protests has drawn criticism from across the U.S.

Obama's impassive response to the unrest in Ferguson contrasts with a second-term approach in which he generally has been more willing to engage on issues of race. In his remarks Monday, which came during a brief break from Obama's two-week vacation on Martha's Vineyard, the president pointed to his signature initiative, My Brother's Keeper, which aims to bring government, business and nonprofit groups together to empower young minorities to pursue a better future.

"We're making some significant progress as people of good will of all races are ready to chip in," Obama said. "But that requires that we build and not tear down, and that requires we listen and not just shout."