Race and the Presidency

I know, of course, that many, if not most, Republicans or McCain supporters do not have a problem with Obama's Race. I also know that nearly 100% of them would claim not to have any problem with Obama's race.

But some of that figure are not being totally honest.

Brent Staples has written an article on how race is playing out in this election, and it's the sort of article that is going to annoy people. He discusses the various ways race has intersected this campaign, particularly Rep. Lynn Westmoreland's description of Obama as Uppity. He then talks about about what Obama has had to do to deal with this issue.

Mr. Obama seems to understand that he is always an utterance away from a statement — or a phrase — that could transform him in a campaign ad from the affable, rational and racially ambiguous candidate into the archetypical angry black man who scares off the white vote. His caution is evident from the way he sifts and searches the language as he speaks, stepping around words that might push him into the danger zone.

These maneuvers are often painful to watch. The troubling part is that they are necessary.

Yeah - that's pretty troubling.