An Article That Will Dispirit You (Unless You're a Racist)

If your day is going a little too well, here's a Washington Post article that will leave you saddened. The article is entitled, "Racist Incidents Give Some Obama Campaigners Pause," and it shares stories of Obama volunteers who have endured comments like, "I'll never vote for a black person," "White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people", and "Hang that darky from a tree!"

The idea that this sort of racism still exists is dispiriting, but to hear the regularity with which Obama campaigners have faced this sort of crap is profoundly disturbing. It pisses me off and makes me embarrassed for some portion of my race.

Tonight's results from the progressive state of West Virginia suggest this sort of mentality runs deeper than it should in the 21st Century. According to The Herald Tribune, a full 20% of West Virginia voters said race was an important factor in their vote, and that's just the percentage of people who were willing to admit it! How unabashedly racist does a person have to be to admit--even an anonymous pollster--that one believes the color of a person's skin is an important and relevant factor in determining that individual's capabilities?

All of this wouldn't be quite so disappointing if it didn't seem Hillary is courting exactly this sort of Neanderthal thinking ("Sen. Obama's support among working, hard-working Americans, white Americans, is weakening again"). I guess "the first black president" wasn't married to the "first black First Lady."

Obama will be victorious for the Democratic nomination, and then we'll see how much race is a factor for the general election. Until recently, I was naive enough to think it would have minimal impact, but now I'm not so sure.

By the way, if you happen to be one of those people who think that race matters when it comes to leadership, please click any of the following: Frederick Douglass, Martin Luther King, Jr., Charles R. Drew, Nelson Mandela, Ralph Bunche, Thurgood Marshall, Colin L. Powell, or Carol Moseley Braun.