In an interview recorded just days before the one-year anniversary of Michael Brown’s death in Ferguson, Missouri, President Barack Obama told "NPR Morning Edition" host Steve Inskeep that time on the job—not politics—kept him from tackling race issues as hard as he would have liked to during his first term.

When Inskeep asked if he was waylaid by the politics of being the first black president, the president said no.

That I don’t buy. I think it’s fair to say that if, in my first term, Ferguson had flared up, as president of the United States, I would have been commenting on what was happening in Ferguson. Here’s one thing I will say: that I feel a great urgency to get as much done as possible. And there’s no doubt that after over 6 1/2 years on this job, I probably have an easier time juggling a lot of different issues. And it may be that my passions show a little bit more, just because I have been around this track now for a while.

Watch the segment on Ferguson above. And the full interview will start airing tomorrow.