Mr Obama and ABC News held the forum amid an increase in racial tensions in the US in recent weeks.
Last week a gunman killed five Dallas police at a Black Lives Matter protest.
Micah Xavier Johnson told police he was angry after recent shooting deaths of black men at the hands of officers.
Alton Sterling was killed by police in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, on 5 July. A day later, Philando Castile was shot and killed during a traffic stop outside Minneapolis, Minnesota.
Videos of both shootings were widely publicised.
"I don't want a generation of young people to grow up thinking either that they have to mistrust the police or alternatively, that the police who are doing a good job and out there... that they're constantly at risk not just from criminals but also because the community mistrusts them," Mr Obama said.
He added: "It's going to require all of us not to close ourselves off and go to corners but rather require us to come together and listen to each other.
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