Well, to be fair, there are a few "nonwhite" politicians of prominence in Europe. The most prominent example in Germany is likely Cem Özdemir, a prominent member of the European Parliament who has recently announced his intention to run for leadership of the German Green party (and who has a very good chance of making it, too).

But yes, there's still a fair amount of racism around, even if most of it is on a subconscious level and even if most Germans wouldn't even dream of saying something racist in public. Germany has made some progress in recent years - even the conservative parties have now acknowledged that the immigrants from Turkey and elsewhere are here to stay, and have a place in German society. But there's still much work to be done, like reforming the education system in many states which makes it hard for the children of immigrants to proceed to university.

Hopefully, if the United States can show in November that they have largely moved beyond racism, Germany will be able to do so one day as well...

So, the only way Americans can show they have moved beyond race is to elect Obama? That's ridiculous, there are many reasons to not vote for this guy that have nothing to do with race.

Sure, they are other ways - but none of them are as visible.

If all cops in Los Angeles stopped acting in racist ways, then that would be laudable and noteworthy - but this is unlikely to be noticed in the rest of the world, just like the numerous small ways that the USA gets less racist over time.

However, if Obama were to be elected president, then that would send a powerful signal around the world that other nations wouldn't be able to ignore easily, which might result in some serious soul-searching in some places. Symbols such as this are important, and so are leaders, since they represent a lens through which the rest of the world will see a country. Elect some corrupt businessman like Berlusconi, and you will be the laughingstock of the rest of the world. Elect Obama, and you will show the rest of the world that America is a lot less racist than they thought it was.

Note that I'm not saying that you should vote for Obama based on this. Vote for whoever think would be best for the office and the nation - if you think that McCain would be better, then vote for him. I'm just saying that if Obama were to be elected, he would indeed serve as a powerful symbol to the rest of the world in a way that McCain doesn't.

One of my friends - who is a German of Arab descent - flat-out doesn't believe that the United States would elect a black president, and I would love to prove him wrong. And I'm not just saying that because I bet a free lunch on this... ;)

How is the situation in east Berlin and other areas where, after the wall came down, we saw a rise in neo-nazi, skin-head types, and some backlash against Africans, and others. Many African friends say that Germany has changed, that they would not feel comfortable there now. What is your view?

I think that a valid question is are there any western nations ready to elect a black, arab, jewish president. As a second generation Nigerian born and raised in the US, I see alot of soul-searching that Americans have to make on a daily basis regarding race that is not present in other countries that are believed to be ahead of the US as far as race relations go.

Look at football in Europe, black players still have to deal with situation that Jackie Robinson faced a half-century ago. In Brazil, popular culture and magazines portray a view that alienates the black population there and make them feel ashamed of who they are. The US is where it is today as far as considering a black president because they, we, have dealt with the worst of their societies capabilities and become better for it.

the situation in the east is really a problem. not insofar that there would be an overall racist atmosphere, but we have strong "pockets", where you find very rabid and at times really dangerous thugs.in most of the bigger cities the situation is rather good and the more you move to the west, the better.

the east has fallen from brick-head socialism into a strange, capitalist re-education connected to a crisis in job creation and production. this has, especially amongst angry young jobless men, created an atmosphere of anger and frustration which has evoked some of the old ghosts.

not to the least - strangely - as those people are upset about another phenomenon that shows how big the change is: we have lot of well educated immigrant kids now, set to make carriers. so this success in integration disgruntles some of the "white trash" kids even more.

so, yes, there is in my opinion a "backlash" but it remains to be seen if this will become a major development, especially as the job-situation has improved distinctively. in cultural terms "the change" to the better is still ongoing. the late consequences of re-unification are, we hope, only a serious "hickup".