One of the few papers I wrote in college (in 1996) which was universally hated by my professors was on dynamics of race and racism in the United States. My basic thesis was that perceptions and portrayals of race follow ancient rather than modern divisions-- that perception is less a matter of the color of one's skin than a question of language and culture. Socio-economic class plays a secondary role too.

Labels like "hispanic" are largely cultural anyway (there are hispanics of African origin and hispanics of European origin, for example). Furthermore, prior to WWII, many groups of European immigrants (including Jews, Irish, and Germans) were not considered "white."

Today, most Americans think of Iranians as "Arab" while they think of Greeks and Italians as "White." Yet this is again a matter of perception of "they are from the Middle East" rather than physical characteristics and due to the fact that most Americans don't know anything about the Iranian language (which is more closely related to Greek and Italian than it is Arabic)

Contrary to what a lot of people think, ideological racism is still rampant in the United States with the primary victims being recent immigrants (including Mexican Americans) and African Americans. Often the examples are so subtle most people don't notice them. In my paper, I identified a number of reasonably recent cases where racist alternations of photos by the media went unnoticed including cases where Time Magazine altered photos of OJ Simpson when he was successful to make his skin appear lighter, but reversed the policy after OJ was charged for murder. My argument was that OJ by being successful had achieved a sort of "white" status which was then stripped away when he was charged for murder.

My argument was that most immigrant groups "become white" through a process of socioeconomic gain and cultural and linguistic assimilation, and that we perceive people who are more successful as somehow "more white" because they are better assimilated.

In the above framework, Ferraro's comments appear to be racist. She is basically saying that Obama by virtue of being black is unfit to be successful, that he hasn't really earned the "white" status that should give him that opportunity. However, I think that in her specific case, the internalized sexism of being chosen as the token woman on Mondale's ticket (at least that is how she characterizes it). These may be closely connected to general politics of power. After all, she didn't earn her position on the Democratic ticket, so why should he? And while the responses to the comment suggest that racism is again alive and well, I think that calling Ferraro a "racist" gives her too much credit.

Also, in the above framework, Obama's background places him in in a unique position to unite the country behind his leadership. In addition to cultural elements of both "white" and African-American culture, he is lived overseas, etc. I think of any potential leaders he is best positioned and best prepared to tackle many of the challenges ahead. While I am not sure about his Iraq policies, I think that in other issues, he will make a fine president. I think he is someone who everyone can accept as OUR president and that is a powerful statement. My only reservation is that I am not sure about his Iraq policies but we will see....

Obama is not a racist? But he goes to a church for 20 years that is clearly anti-White and anti-American. The Rev. Wright has made statements that said clearly the USA deserved 9/11 and the CIA caused aids. That same church endorsed comments by Farrakan that Hitler was a hero and he went to Libya with that same person and states that the terrorists are not bad people-that we deserve the treatment we get by them. Obama lied when he says he did not personally hear those statements but he went to that church regularly and says Wright is still his mentor. He also says that as president, he will continue to go to that church that endorses that kind of rhetoric. Obama must have great power over the people to still get support from them and still go on as usual. Hitler had that kind of power and a lot of Jews, rich and poor died as a result. If you think that that kind of thing cannot happen in this country, you would be sadly mistaken. The German people still say that they did not know what Hitler was doing. That they were mezmerized by his chirisma. Well, we are being mezmerized today and I believe that sincerely. I was going to vote for Obama if my candidate did not get in and I spoke for unity early on but I cannot vote for this man. If you think I am a racist, so be it but I vote for the person who is the best for the nation, not for color or gender. By the way, people who know me know this is true because I adopted a bi-racial child who never had a racial "bone in her body" against anyone. I taught her that and I did live to see racial bias against her & that people are not treated the same. Still, I say that Obama is a racist. I call it like I see it and he is definitely a racist and as a nation we have a great problem there.