Did anyone notice Obama's wife has been out reminding voters that his mother is white? Isn't Obama using his race card by doing this? Interesting that his wife is the one out doing the reminding. He'll use whatever he can to get votes, same as any other politician.

Great post Leslie.



del8300
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I know for a FACT that I have Caucasian blood in my veins but my skin color is dark brown. No one on this earth is concerned about my heritage - they only see my color. B/c there are so many shades of Black people that we just assume anyone with a small amount of dark melanin is Black. It is a hard line to walk. And I have a great admiration for people like Barack Obama. My mom is about the color of him and she has struggled with that "are you white or black" her entire life. People didn't even believe she was my mother! It is easy to say that no one should label but America will FOREVER until the end of time. I see Obama as the first non-white President - and that is something I NEVER thought I would see in this lifetime!

Obama tried a bold experiment. Running for President and treating his race as a non-issue. Not race, which is an issue he has addressed, but his race.

There's never been a President whose made a big deal of being white, or male, so why make a big deal of not being the so-called-norm.

The risk was whether voters would see his race (or races) as being just one aspect of who he is and far and away NOT the most important aspect.

And so far, it's working. It started working, where it needed to most, in overwhelmingly white states like Iowa and New Hampshire. Then, in South Carolina, where the Clintons forced the dialogue to focus on race, the polarization one might have expected occurred. But what also occurred was the media's insistance on viewing the race as one of identity politics.

Obama, however, has stayed on message and in recent states, we are starting to see more colorblindness on the part of voters.

What's frustrating are the people who "don't get it." Those who insist on interpretting every victory as some variant of "because he's black" ignoring the fact that that has never been a plus in national elections before.

What is inspiring is the candidate's refusal to be frustrated. He stays on message, and slowly the people step up and accept it. He's given us a reason to be proud, not only of him, but of our millions of countrymen who have voted for him. When was the last time a politician did that?

Leslie, I agree with you. But can you tell me why certain womem groups are all fired up about voting for a woman. I think that is bigoted. Maybe you would do a column on that subject.

This is one of the underlying meanings of the Obama campaign. This election is not about race or gender.

The very idea of race was invented by white people to subjugate non-whites; witness the witless rules that decided who was "Indian" in Oklahoma a century ago (and still today as far away as the Carolinas), and the blood quanta labels that identified how "black" (not, tellingly, how "white") a mixed blood child was for hundreds of years. Obama: octoroon? quadroon, maroon? Who CARES?

A great post on race relations with a positive message.

Obama does have much to offer in terms of healing, and understanding race issues.

But symbolism, speeches and ideas can create an image that may not be based in reality.

While it is easy to like all the intangibles about Obama, his voting record and other "decisions" prevent me from trusting him.

Obama hired Moses Mercado on as a senior consultant for his team.

Mercado is a greasy K-street lobbyist for:

The NRA

The Carlyle Group

The Blackstone Group.

Obama hired Ben Rhodes as his main speech writer.

Ben Rhodes worked directly for Lee Hamilton on the flawed corrupt 911 Commission.

Lee Hamilton the good investigator who gave Reagan and Bush a free pass on Iran arms dealing when he chaired the committee tasked with investigating them.

Ben Rhodes co-authored a book "Without Precedent" with Hamilton and Thomas Kean.

Obama did not show up to vote against Mukasey when he was confirmed as AG.

Last week Obama had another chance to vote for safeguards against torture.....and again he failed to show up. Why? Why not be CLEAR and show leadership on this issue.

Obama has not shown any leadership on the current FISA mess. Why? A perfect opportunity to stand up to Bush, show leadership and character. He is silent, has missed votes, and appears to want it both ways on the FISA issue.

Obama clearly put down the idea of impeachment last fall when Kucinich was trying to get this issue to the Senate floor.

Obama makes much of his original stance against the crime in Iraq....but voted to fund it three times last year.

Obama's votes do not back up his rhetoric, and his close association with several shady neocon characters are not the stuff of hope and change.

My bias as a disgruntled Kucinich supporter may show through (guilty as charged) but the facts about Obama are hard to ignore.

When you were running through Compton did you notice that the poor are disproportionately brown and black? Do you know who makes up a disproportionate share of prisoners in this country? Do you know what kids have the highest drop out and infant mortality rate? What about who has the lowest life expectancy? Who faces discrimination when seeking car loans and redlining with respect to home loans? So while personal prejudice may "cut every way and always has," the lived consequences of racism seem to move in one direction only -- toward people of color.

When those like me who are "bi-racial" (I use quotation marks here because so many Black Americans are of mixed race) identify ourselves as Black it is an expression of political solidarity as much as of cultural identity. It is not a rejection of our white parent or of white people. It is rather an affirmation of where we choose to situate ourselves, firmly within a Black community under siege. It is a statement of our solidarity with our Black mother or father, and Black grandparents, cousins, aunts and uncles. It is the way that we say that we don't want some backdoor out of the space in which society continues to confine those who are black; instead, we will spend our lives along side of other Black men and women (and allies of all races) working to build a world in which life chances are not tied to racial categorization.

And while you may be willing to "unlabel" Barack Obama, he has clearly identified himself as an African American. And for where I stand, that is the truly righteous move.

This was a lovely piece, but I don't think it is original. Your pronouncement is a little late.

I think dozens of writers have called Obama a post-racial candidate already.

However, as a journalist, maybe you should investigate in the hearts of the Mid-West and Deep South, where most of the racists and right wing militias are, and ask them if they think Obama is just another American man.

I find it interesting that ever since Obama's candidacy, no reporters have dared to enter the heartland to find out what the haters think.

It seems so many in the MSM have forgotten the Oklahoma City attack and the all the right-wing domestic terrorist groups that came out of the woodwork during Clinton's presidency.

I think an Obama presidency would be good on some levels, but I am not in denial about the racist underbelly of this country who would murder and maim before accepting a black man as president.

Yep. If you keep typing...you can make race go away in America. Pay no attention to the 400+ Years of structural Racism that this Country was built on. The power of the Internet is here.

LOL, Americans are so obsessed with labels that the older fashionistas have paid a more than hefty sum to buy purses covered with the designer's initials covering the oh so fashinable purses. These trendoid ladies want to lord it over less fashionable ladies who choose not to be seen carrying a purse emblazoned with the letters LV. Some consider carring a purse boldly labeled Louis Lumpenproliet or whateve to be like walking on well traveled street wearing sandwich boards bearing ads. The most modish ladies feel that carrying & flaunting a purse covered with the initials LV is one of those things that are never to be done. It is so New Jersey & outer boroughs.
As for race: forget it, madam. Red necks, octroons & almost every shade is obsessed with having the correct shade of skin. This country has a history of headling yellow peril, red sympathizer, black brute, ad nausium.
We now have neo-cons, red diaper radicals, flaming, knee jerk, liberals, etc.
One who enters a comment on HP which isn't PC is labeled a lilly livered, right wingnut troll.
I must close. I have to cut the labels of my new tee shirts off to avoid looking like a wannabe fashionisto. That simply isn't done in my circle. We look upon those who wear designer jeans emblazed with trade marked designs on the hip pockets as insecure, newly rich, clods who have no idea of what is both proper & fashonable.

Who says he can't dance?

He looked pretty good on Ellen.

Bravo, well said. The pundits and the baby boomer politicians thrived on lebelling; black and white, red and blue, left and right, rich and poor. Enough of the slicing and dicing. Great piece, enjoyed it.

Old habits die hard. There are 400 years of evil, "one drop" rules and the signposts that directed one skin color this way and the other that way. As for what the rest of the world knows, they count it in their dead citizens and destroyed lands.

America will likely go the route of McKook as this nation is addicted to violence and there remain all those dark hordes out there...
You may be ready, this nation is not.