A recent CNN report begins with a line similar to this: Race still matters in America, the question is How much will race matter in the 2008 presidential elections?
As an African I am very grateful for how far America has come in race relations. My gratitude to those who shed capital, much heartache, sweat and blood, allowing us to eat at any restaurant, sleep at any hotel, sit anywhere on a bus, train, subway or plane, without seeing signs like "For Whites Only".
Things have changed so much that my children can date, engage or even marry whites, if they choose to.
In our lifetime, the biggest evidence of America's leapfrog progress in race relations is the candidacy of Senator Barack Obama, who would not be where he is today without the active support and actual votes of millions of whites, Hispanics, Jews, Asians and others, beginning with the Democratic primary elections.
Despite all the progress, however, it can be said that race remains the wild card, the X-Factor in the 2008 presidential elections in these United States of America. No matter how far ahead Obama may be ahead of Senator John McCain in the polls, there is no room or reason for comfort for him, because of the so-called "Bradley effect", less commonly known as the "Wilder effect".
According to Wikipedia, "the Bradley effect refers to a tendency on the part of voters -- black as well as white -- to tell pollsters that they are undecided or likely to vote for a Black candidate, and yet, on election day, vote for his/her white opponent."
But that is not the only tide Obama has to swim against. There are also non-blacks who have learned to conceal their unlikelihood of voting for a black candidate in the wrappings and trappings of some really clever talking points. These are what may be called "Other ways to say He's Black".
1. "He's just too liberal." "He's too liberal for me." "He's too liberal for this country." These people don't see that John McCain is not that conservative; he has signed on to so many liberal policies.
2. "He makes me nervous." "I'm uncomfortable with him." "He makes me uncomfortable."
3. "I'm scared of him being in that White House."
"He could be dangerous to our national security."
4. "He sympathizes with terrorists like Bill Ayres."
5. "He's a Muslim, but he won't tell you that." "He's Arab." "His middle name is Hussein. He's Barack Hussein Obama." That probably ranks as the favorite of them all -- the religious litmus test. Is it anti-American to be Muslim? Is being "Christian" a requirement for the presidency of the United States?
6. "I can't vote for him, and it's not because I'm racist. I would vote for General Collin Powell for president." That's easy to say when General Powell is not running.
Of course, there are some elderly whites who still say it the old fashion way: "I can't vote for that black boy."
You know what, I think I prefer the straight talk kind. At least, we don't have to guess or second guess what they mean. It's the ones who "speak in tongues" that worry me.
For the vast majority of Americans who have conquered "the skin thing", let's hope that race will not be a major factor on November 4th.
