Stacy,

The reason it seems like many whites are shocked by Obama's speech is because they are.

Most Whites don't give any thought to the realities of American racism because it doesn't negatively effect them. Sad, but true. White people like to think of the "race problem" as something blacks need to "overcome" or more likely "get over". They also like to fancy themselves free of any responsibility for correcting the situation. Almost none of them understand that the key to wiping out racism is for white people to stop practicing it and to stop passing it on to their children and to insist that the injustices created by racsim come to an immediate end.

The irony of course, is that while racism's most obvious and negative impacts are upon blacks, racism hurts every citizen regardless of race. Racism holds Americans back both collectively and individually from being all they can be, from fulfilling their full potential and it keeps us all from realizing our shared vision of a democratic nation of equals. Unless and until whites understand this must be a priority of theirs and not just a priority for black people, then racism will continue haunt and hrm us all.

Storm,
I'm saying eventhough I've either never noticed or paid it any attention in my own life, I mostly hear the stories of being 'held back', from older black people, or from black men. If you can't the chances to advance, prosperity is not impossible, but it is more difficult to obtain.

You know what's funny? I didn't even know I was black until someone told me. Think about it. When in school, I played with who I liked. Kristi or Keisha, it didn't matter to me. I've never cared about race, until I kept going to school, 'learning'.

What's not so funny is that now, I've got a young kid who's getting ready to start school in a very mixed area of the city, and they celebrated Black History last month, of course learning about M.L.K.. One day he went to school with a simple button down shirt on and a creased pair of khakis, and one kid in his class (Arab) says, '...hey, you look like the President...'. He was talking about Obama, these are 4-5 year old kids.

Now, I know that's not a really big deal, but as a black mother, without Obama making the strides he's made, who would have seen the 'Presidential potential' of my kid? Hell, I didn't even see it. (lol)

My point is this, as long as we have to, now get this, 'teach' history and social studies in all schools, when you get to the slavery part, black kids get pissed, white kids get defesnsive, hispanics wonder where they fit in to all of this, asian's don't seem to really care and play it safe by embracing the European culture..., but nothing is ever solved.

Good Talk