Here's the thing, it's not about apologizing. It's about awareness.

There's been a history of slavery in this country and after that subordination and after that institutionalized racism and a large segment of the people being targeted are black men.

So whenever Hilary refers to race, she is forgetting all the privilege she has that allows her to say that freely and not get flack for it. She says it as a white woman and that separates her from people, that is the difference, at least for me, between feminism and womanism. I am a black woman and because of that I carry with me a history of racial oppression as well as experiences of it in its current forms. I can't forget that when Hillary or any other white person in power says things about Barack she's making comments that extend to my people, the group I identify with most racially, socially, culturally etc.

You have to be aware of how those comments, your actions or in some cases lack of actions speaks to the difference in privilege you are afforded as a white woman, things black and other minority females don't have. When you or others forget, as in Hillary's case, it leads to more fragmentation. It has to or the underlying problems won't be recognized.

"I can't forget that when Hillary or any other white person in power says things about Barack she's making comments that extend to my people, the group I identify with most racially, socially, culturally etc."

So anything and everything that is said about Obama somehow automatically applies to you?

If everything that black people said about Clinton or McCain somehow applied to me I'd get a complex fast.

He's a politician, he's deliberately putting himself up to this scrutiny in his pursuit of the highest office of the land.

That same scrutiny doesn't apply to you or by extension to your race.

I don't assume that every single thing he says represents all blacks everywhere any more than I assume Wright's comments do.

I hope that you also don't forget that white people are voting for Obama. If he wins the general election, he'll be representing them, too...and hopefully doing it well.

rmwase - Wow, I'm sorry for you and the weight you must bear. Please, Please try and get past this kind of thinking and feeling, for I'm sure the gut is involved more than the head. We will NEVER have a frank or candid discussion about race or anything Obama with those reactions. I'm not saying they are not real or unwarranted, but you are not allowing anyone to criticize Obama, or any black maybe, without a "black" negative reaction. There are certainly many areas that we can disagree about Barak without race having anything to do about it. I am grateful for your honesty, but I do think that this is a KEY reaction and one that doesn't help the black community. It seems to me that blacks will hide and protect other black wrongdoers, just because they are black, and it is killing your communities, not to mention your young. I'm from Chicago, so I hope you can hear me and as to why this problem must be solved. It's not guns, it's a respect for life.

...that allows her to say that freely and not get flack for it...

I don't understand. She's gotten TONS of flack for it!