I would to call Mudcatters' attention to a dailykos diary about the meaning of Barak Obama's candidacy for President of the USA. I find this diary to be an interesting and thought provoking read.

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/5/173727/4473/966/431261
A Black Woman's Musings on Coffee with Dad, Racism, and Barack Obama
by shanikka
Sat Jan 05, 2008 at 04:05:23 PM PST

This daily kos recommended diary was written in response to an earlier dailykos recommended diary that was titled "Coffee with Dad -the stone racist would vote for Obama" http://www.dailykos.com/story/2008/1/5/12243/06635/138/431080
by Rosebuddear
Sat Jan 05, 2008 at 10:08:32 AM PST

The author of that first diary wrote about how she attempted to convince her father who she described as a racist that he should vote for Barak Obama. One of the points that Rosebuddear, the first diarist, made was that Obama was a "good Black person" and not like the so many Black people who her father despised-people who were on welfare and who lived in public housing & tore up that housing.

shannika, the author of the second diary, wrote that the first diarist's description of Black people as "Bad Black/Good Black" was in and of itself was racist, because-among other things- 1} most Black people aren't on welfare; 2} most Black people don't live in public housing and 3} Most Black people who live in public housing don't tear up their dwelling.

I agree with this point and the other points that shannika made in that diary.

Here's an excerpt from shannika's diary:

"...It is my depressed and sad view, based on what I've heard folks say, including the many well-meaning folks like the diarist [who wrote the diary about her father *], that a unconscious motivation is the possibility of the chance for America to "officially" (by electing a Black president) declare the harm of racism in America "over."

Free at last, free at last....?

Racism is this nation's original sin. So, what better way to make a Declaration of Indepdendence from the responsibility to clean up the mess than by embracing a Black presidential candidate who already excites because he is a rhetorical powerhouse and conveys a real sense of hope, yet notably has very little to say publicly about Blacks that is positive and certainly has said nothing other than stereotypical things (i.e. "Black children will see they can succeed" -- as if the majority of Black children haven't been seeing that all along, somehow, in all the other Black folks who have succeeded before Barack Obama) to the point that folks like the diarist are actually speaking about him as a contrast to millions of nameless and faceless "Black people" who "tear up" "affordable housing" and "take advantage" of "welfare." (At least, since he started running for President, anyhow.)

That, to me as a proud Black person who has fought all her life for Black people (and a whole lot of others, proving that one can have "a Black agenda" and actually do white folks a lot of good too!), is some scary shit.

Because the work not only is not done, it was never done and things for the collective are getting horribly, permanently, WORSE.

My true hope is that one day Barack Obama will actually talk about how he will make it better - using the actual words "Black people" in more than a way that just heaps on more criticism."

-snip-

* my addition

And here is a comment from that diary:
"...I have also been worried by comments I've read about how the nomination and election of Barack Obama would represent some kind of major sign that we've taken a big step forward in ending racism. But in my simplistic way I've responded by saying a win by Barack Obama would mean he was able to win in spite of racism, not that we've somehow made great progress against racism. (My own daily life tells me that racism is alive and well in this country.)
I also get disturbed whenever I see or comments that are along the line of "Obama is the right kind of Black person," which we saw in the Coffee with Dad diary as you pointed out, although white folks would never think to say that John Edwards is "the right kind of white person." "
-davidkc

-snip-

For the record, let me also say that I strongly support the presidential candidacy of Senator Barak Obama.