Why do people keep saying Obama is BLACK? He could just as easily be WHITE...after all, he's half-and-half. I'd say when you're 50% each, then it comes down to how you were raised and educated. A superior person can;t be judged by what's outside -- only what's inside.

Johnny one note.

States we MAY lose purely because of racism: PA, OH, MICHIGAN. And Wisconsin. States we WILL lose because of racism WV, and every state of the Old Confederacy except maybe VA.

I know T Wise through his "White Like Me," which I remember to be a much more personal account of his account of American Racism. It is a great place to start for those seemingly millions (if not all) of white Americans who don't question what it is to be white, when every other race does it out of necessity. You have to admit, they are hard questions to ask.

I think you miss a little with the cause of white voting behaviors and the leaders they allow. I would agree that behaviors are guided by unchallenged, white privilege. But I think he sees that white privilege leading to superior (or mischaracterized) cultural positions positioned because of race - not because of "racial superiority" that you add. Maybe it is just syntax or the manipulation of a phrase, but I see racial superiority as something more insipid. If bigotry, that he rails astutely against, is bred by ignorance - racial superiority is bred and followed with conviction or faith if you will.

I truly think, with no proof except my contemplation, those people who say they will never vote for a black or "gook" using one of his examples, do so because of unforgivable and racist lack of introspection that is a necessary part of personal examination. Unacceptable in anyone, a life of bigotry, it might be more forgivable in those regular folks - and I can't believe I have to write that down - but only to prove that it is not racial supremacy. For it to be true racial supremacy, and I might have a different take on this, there would be established political powers promoting this. Most of these people have no power at all.

That said, in the spirit of Wise, it is one thing to forgive the regular folk's racism, but another thing not to have higher expectations of our leaders character - to have an open, unfettered understanding of the human soul. I really want my President to be able to define being American beyond "America First." And I hate how "character" has been usurped by character-less motives. I will have to revisit some more of Wise's essays. Has he been a part of the "Book Club?"

I know of Tim Wise, but haven't read his work. I'd go further than oleeb above, however, and say this essay strikes me as sloppy and because of that not very helpful to Wise's cause/case.

One example:

"White privilege is being able to say that you support the words 'under God' in the pledge of allegiance because 'if it was good enough for the founding fathers, it's good enough for me,' and not be immediately disqualified from holding office–since, after all, the pledge was written in the late 1800s and the 'under God' part wasn’t added until the 1950s–while believing that reading accused criminals and terrorists their rights (because, ya know, the Constitution, which you used to teach at a prestigious law school, requires it), is a dangerous and silly idea only supported by mushy liberals."

Of course "reading accused criminals...their rights" only became required (as far as I know) with the Miranda Warning in 1966. While "reading accused...terrorists their rights" gets into all sorts of issues beyond my limited knowledge of the current state of the law (at least if you include those apprehended by the military overseas and kept there, factor in the bogus 'enemy combatant' status, the Geneva Conventions, etc.).

Maybe I'm missing something, and if so I welcome the correction, but criticizing someone for citing something as coming from the American Founders that in fact came about in the 1950s by contrasting it with an example that, if it works at all, is something the "Constitution requires" that far from being written in the Constitution came about from a Supreme Court decision in 1966, isn't a great comparison.

Also, prejudice isn't exclusive to racial issues, as one of those old hippies who never cut my hair or shaved my beard (even when the monkey-suit-necktie crowd used the media during Reagan and Bush1 to turn us longhairs all into criminals in the public psyche) I know what it is like to walk inot a room full of people who know nothing about me personally, and perceive their prejudice.

I realize I made the choice to wear long hair and a beard, and people of color (any color) had no say in their genetic formatting, but the result is the same. The members of the status quo just don;t like anything "different."

And the people who are passing judgement with such prejudice tend to be the same, too. The lipstick-laden, chunky-mascara-wearing, cake-make-upped old church-choir-coffee-committee gals inherently hate me just as much as they hate a person of color. So do their Vitalis/Vi*gra spouses. (The balding Brylcreem generation is alive and well and living everywhere...)

So while I agree that racial prejudice plays a big role in our politics, particularly in the present election, prejudice of all forms permeates the process, both consciously and sub-consciously.

Try this; if you are white, wear an Obama T-shirt into a local conservative stronghold coffeeshop and carefullyt watch the eyes of the known Republicans in the crowd as they glare...

You may get an idea of what I am talking about.

Nothing is more dangerous than that status-quo grizzly protecting it's entrenched turf. The word "change" alone makes them nervous.

Lets stop talking about "white superiority" and start calling it what it really is, "white MAJORITY." If I'm not mistaken, we live in a DEMOCRACY. And in a DEMOCRACY the needs of the few are automatically overstepped by the needs of the many.

Now, let's talk about this so-called "white-priviledge." Lets say I say to someone "I'm voting for McCain because he's white." They would say, wow, you are a racist pig. But if a black man says, "I'm voting for Obama because he's black." They say, good for you! Support your people! Give me a break.

Lets stop talking about race at all and start talking about the candidates. First off, Sarah Palin isn't that experienced. But she's not running for president is she? Between the PRESIDENTIAL CANDIDATES, we have inexperienced Obama and experienced McCain. Important Issues - #1 The economy - McCain wants to fix it instead of doing some stupid "say what they want to hear" debate. #2 Gas Prices - McCain says, "I will support off-shore drilling and the expansion of alternative energy sources. Obama says, "I might think about off-shore drilling as a viable option." #3 War in Iraq - McCain supported it all along. Obama - can't make up his mind.

Want to know why Obama will lose this election? It's not because he's black. It's because he doesn't want what the MAJORITY of AMERICANS want (assuming he even knows what he wants).