Reply #6: It Could Backfire [View All]

One of the cool things about Obama that I think made it easier for some white people to tolerate him is that he wasn't constantly reminding people he was African American. I say this to contrast him to people like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton who were always talking about how hard black people had it. Now of course, it's true - our country has treated blacks shamefully - but many white people prefer not to acknowledge that. Such thoughts evoke guilt and/or defensiveness, if not outright anger and denial.

Obama transcends race because he was never in our face about it. He never hid it, he never flaunted it. He's an American - pure and simple. All the Kenyans start making noise, and it reminds people of his background. Enough Americans are jingoistic and xenophobic enough to get turned off by that, by seeing Obama as "foreign" and "different"

Me personally, I don't blame the Kenyans. The smears against Obama are smears against them too. We need to have some of our narrow-minded misconceptions of other cultures shattered, and this is an opportunity to do so. I just hope it doesn't hurt Obama.