Did Racism End November 4th?

This week’s topic deals with the discussion that has taken place since the election of the 44th President. As I watched CNN on election night I must admit that some of the commentaries actually shocked me. I actually heard a Caucasian man say that now there are no excuses for young black people. He then went on to say that for years he has heard whispers of “the deck being stacked” against black people, and now that Barack Obama has been elected it proves that those days are over.

What?

Last week, aol.com had a column which had the ten most racist Obama moments. This column had everything from nooses to school children chanting racist demonstrative messages. There are still constant physical threats to Obama from various groups because of his race. We also witnessed November 5, 2008 becoming one of the highest days for gun sales in recorded history.

This week’s blog is not about public reaction to the election. The issue is about getting everyone back into reality. Let’s look at the facts again. The Obama-Biden ticket was clearly the stronger of the two major tickets. I must admit that some people did vote for historical reasons; however the bottom line is that the state of the economy and the last eight years signaled doomsday for the ruling party. Obama did not get elected because there is no racism in America. Obama was elected because he presented a perfect storm for the Democratic Party. President – Elect Obama ran a campaign which mirrored Obama himself in its intelligence, organization and discipline. These pillars will become a case study in how to run an effective campaign. But I am not convinced that race is still not a major issue in this country.

The question most people need to ask themselves is if Obama was white would the election have been so close? I think the answer says a lot about race. People compare Obama to Jackie Robinson. I think the comparison is fair even though one deals with athletic abilities and the other intellect. But for comparison sake it is fair given that public opinion then was that blacks were not intelligent enough to play baseball. But comparatively Robinson was as extraordinary in athletics as Obama is extraordinary in politics. Combined with extraordinary oratory and extreme intellectual ability Obama is a head and shoulders above many of his peers. These abilities propelled him into the presidency, not the end of racism.

Why do black people have to be extraordinary to break barriers?

Race issues are difficult to deal with. More importantly dealing with these issues requires more than declaring racism to be over. Some of our race issues as a country may dwindle away as people see that Obama outperforms public expectation, just as Robinson once did. However, this does not mean that black people will no longer be victims of backroom hiring deals, racial profiling, and court sentencing disparities. In fact, we as a nation will need to do some painful soul searching as a country, in order to see the real areas where some races are victimized while others are not if we truly want to ever be united.

In short, I don’t think most black people are riddled with excuses, some do have valid reasons. For every Barack Obama there are hundreds of kids who had similar drive, passion, and maybe intelligence that were missing one key component, opportunity. So as we optimistically enter the next four years (hopefully eight years) lets be joyful for the progress that we have made as a country, but realize that in the grand scheme of race relations we have a long, long way to go.

What are your thoughts?