CarolC, you should, of course, feel free to use whatever word you are most comfortable with, as a member of the Mudcat race (which is, according to your definition, "a class or kind of people unified by shared interests, habits, or characteristics"). BTW, you might, just for the fun of it, put "racism" into the dictionary site to which you linked earlier.

And does anyone have anything to say about the Obama supporter race or about Senator Obama? Personally, I am somewhat intrigued by the fact that he is presently 3 years older than was JFK when he was elected President, without a great deal more experience as an elected official than Sen. Obama.