Lesson learned - and shared

You can be a genius and still say something stupid.

You can also rise up and teach others by your mistake.

When Brent Regan, a brilliant scientist, entrepreneur and the newest addition to the Coeur d'Alene School Board shared a racist anecdote during a public forum on Saturday, he demonstrated the opening statement of this editorial. When he put his ego aside and explored a flaw in his logic or his makeup and then publicly apologized on Monday, he fulfilled the second statement.

We're not interested in debating whether or not Regan's comment, referring to assault weapons and President Obama as both being black and scary, meets your definition of a racist or inappropriate remark. Consider this: Would Regan have made that comment on Saturday if he'd been in a room full of African-American Democrats staunchly supporting stricter gun control and heavily in favor of Obama's health care overhaul, instead of an all-white, anti-Obama, pro-gun crowd? Would he have said that if even one person of color had been there?

Would you?

Those who dispute the importance of diversity are likely the same people who find nothing wrong with Regan's remark. That's sad. We learn little when we're surrounded by people who look like we look, who were raised like we were raised, who think like we think. Is there comfort and convenience in shared similarities? Certainly. There just isn't an abundance of enlightenment.

Brent Regan has been enlightened by this painful experience. More importantly, he's offered himself up in a powerful teaching moment, not just for the 10,000 youngsters in his care as a school board member but to all of us in the community courageous enough to explore potential flaws in our logic or our makeup.