Barack Obama has portrayed himself (refreshingly so) as a presidential candidate prepared to elevate the difficult conversation about race in this country. Thus, a profound challenge arrived when video surfaced of the Rev. Jeremiah Wright hurling angry words, declaring ''God damn America for treating our citizens as less than human,'' pointing to the ''arrogance'' of ''the United States of White America.'' This is the man Obama describes as his spiritual mentor, the man who presided at his wedding, who baptized his children?

On Tuesday, in Philadelphia, in the shadow of the place where the Constitution was written, Obama attempted to address the divide. He understood the stakes for his campaign. More, he grasped the moment for the country, a candidate (at last) talking about race in a thoughtful and productive way.

Writing on today's Commentary page, Kathleen Parker chides Obama for thinking he can play magician: Utter ''abracadabra,'' and racial tensions fade away. That speech wasn't so wishful, or magical, at all. Obama asked whites and blacks in the larger audience to think hard about the realities driving divided impressions. He urged a dose of honesty.

Obama condemned the harsh words of the Rev. Wright. He also advised that ''the anger is real; it is powerful; and to simply wish it away, to condemn it without understanding its roots, only serves to widen the chasm of misunderstanding. . . . '' He cited ''a similar anger'' among whites, the many who ''don't feel that they have been particularly privileged by their race.'' Here was a candidate seeking something far different than driving a familiar wedge between constituencies in pursuit of the necessary majority.

To be sure, Obama wants to prevail in the contest for president. His candidacy is most appealing when he approaches problems in new and promising ways. Thus, his speech proved compelling in asking black and white Americans to look at matters of race from uncommon and enlightened perspectives, to get past the ''racial stalemate we've been stuck in for years.''

Naive? Perhaps. Still, Obama shouldn't be sold short. He doesn't subscribe to the notion that his candidacy alone will erase centuries of racial friction. What he seeks is a frank conversation that addresses ''the complexities of race in this country that we've never really worked through.'' He opened with a reference to the phrasing of the Constitution: ''in order to form a more perfect union.'' The Founders had in mind a prolonged effort. Obama wants to push forward, whether slightly or dramatically.

More, Obama recognizes that by retreating into ''our respective corners,'' Americans will make all the harder challenges from health care to education. There is much about the Obama candidacy that invites pause, starting, yes, with his lack of experience. There also is something most uplifting, his capacity to get beyond the tired ways. It is evident in his discussion of foreign policy, in his eschewing the rancor of the Clinton and Bush years. It was prominently displayed in Philadelphia, an American politician talking intelligently and hopefully about race.