SACRAMENTO —

“You look at Trayvon Martin. You look at Jordan Davis. And now Michael Brown. Unfortunately in our country, we are not where we want to be,” said Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson.

America is not yet a post racial society. Sacramento Mayor Kevin Johnson says he knows that from experience.

“I just can’t tell you the emotions I felt when I did nothing wrong, or didn’t even know what I was potentially being accused of that they put me in the back of a squad car,” Johnson said.

Mayor Johnson says he remembers feeling racially profiled in 1988. As a young, black man driving a sports car through his hometown of Oak Park.

“It just triggered this. How many times has this happened around the country?” Johnson said.

Fast forward 25 years to Ferguson, Missouri. Michael brown’s death at the hands of a police officer sparked so much public outcry.

The name of a city is now a symbol for racism.

“Ferguson is at the top of our minds for all of us,” said Johnson.

It’s why an entire seminar was devoted to post-Ferguson policing priorities at the U.S. Mayors Conference in Sacramento.

A city with a reputation built on diversity.

“And yet our police department is not very diverse. It does not reflect the community in which we live in,” Johnson said.

Mayors from around the country discussed ways to unite people with police: leading community conversations, recruiting diverse police forces and acknowledging that racism still exists.

“There are people that are genuinely frustrated for a lot of reasons and we have to respect that,” said Johnson.