Barack Obama, The Great White Hope?

RaceMan,
What do you think of the Democratic primary? Doesn't the fact that Barack Obama has gotten so much support from white Americans prove that the racism you like to rant about is a thing of the past? And if things are not exactly equal, they're a lot better than people like you make them out to be?
Gary

Gary,
You got ol' RaceMan. I have to admit the "white" support for Obama is something I didn't predict. But I don't feel so bad because I don't remember any of the people who get big bucks to know such things seeing this train coming either.

I'm still leary of the numbers, (and after Pennsylvania, it seems the fat lady won't be exercising her vocal chords for a while), but I do think we're seeing something new in American politics. The engine is the hundreds of thousands of energetic, well-educated young NewMericans who grew up in a nation changed for good by the Civil Rights Movement.

But I think we should give George W. Bush more credit than the average "white" American's sudden desire for truth, justice and equality. He could not have done more to set the stage for Obama.

How?

By proving once and for all that being born a wealthy "white" male in the U.S.A. does not make you a natural born leader. He has caused a number of normally complacent, blissfully ignorant Euromericans to rethink the idea that only about 5-10% of our population is qualified to even be considered for the ovoid office.

All of our Presidents from the beginning have been white men. Only a few - Lincoln and Clinton come to mind - have been from less than wealthy families. Half the population - women - couldn't even vote until the early 20s, let alone dream of being President. Add poor or working class "white" men, Afrimericans, Hispanics, and the growing number of "other" U.S. citizens and you have over 90% of our population automatically eliminated from being future "leaders of the free world".

No wonder the gene pool that remains seems to suffer from an incestuous lack of new ideas, energy and understanding (or caring) about the world outside of the D of C.

Only a President so disasterously out of his depth as W could lead so many Caucasions to reject their "all-wealthy-white-men, all-the-time" criteria. But Barack isn't the only potential beneficiary of this new found desire for diversity. Hillary Clinton is doing her best to open up things for wealthy white women.

If either of them is elected President, our nation will have a better chance of making it to the next century. But neither of their elections will in itself make up for over 200 years of government of wealthy white men, by wealthy white men and for (you guessed it) wealthy white men.

BTW: And neither of their elections will change the fact that the vast majority of "un-white" folks in America still live in the long shadow of white supremacy, slavery, peonage and government-sanctioned discrimination.
RM