Janie,

I'm writing in response to your 23 Feb 08 - 11:10 PM post that included the statement that you think that "Obama's race is no deterent to his electability, because he behaves, speaks, and sounds like any well-educated, powerful and poised White man." You also wrote that you "think White Americans don't really identify him [Obama] with the dominant African-American culture of the USA."

Janie, your comments sadden me. I wonder what people who say that Obama is acceptable to them because he doesn't speak or act like a "real" Black person think "speaking Black" really is. And I wonder what those people {whether they themselves are Black or they are non-Black} think that "acting Black" really is.

Janie, I also wonder what you mean by the "dominant African American culture" and how you or other people would describe that culture.
I get the sense that the description would not be positive.

And let me emphatically say Janie that I'm not calling you a racist. I've come to know you over time as a result of reading your posts and exchanging posts with you on this public forum and via private messages. I know that you aren't racist. But if even you accept that viewpoint about race that you articulated in those comments about the acceptability of Barack Obama, as well as your supposition about a lighter skinned Hillary Clinton versus a darker skinned Hillary Clinton, then we're even further from the end goal of a time when race and skin color doesn't matter than I thought we were.

I'll end as I began. Janie, your comments sadden me.