But that wasn’t the point you were making. You wanted to talk about racial identity and politics in America. George W. Bush lead the most racially diverse cabinet in 2000. This was progress . Obama will most likely follow In his footsteps. This will be continued progress. If we look at color of skin, then there’s progress all around. But progress is something deeper.

Ward Connerly, a Black American, runs campaigns to eliminate affirmative action in the name of civil rights-contrary to what civil rights actually stands for. And mind you, affirmative action is not just a “minority” thing. The greatest benefactors of affirmative action have been white women. He is thus far winning. Not progress.

Progress for people like the original poster is protecting and advancing civil rights for all Americans. Not racial politics. Barack Obama is a constitutional law professor who taught exactly this idea ins law school environment. The real victors in his victory are the millions of new young, Black, and Latino voters who voted in this election.

He managed to get these people to participate in “change”-that’s the true genius of this election. Change, in the relevant context of this conversation, came from the bottom. People like me who also go by “Conrad” and not “Yukio”. From people who call themselves “Michael” instead of “Miguel”. So yes, “hope” is real. We all wish for a brighter day. And a lot of us are glad that we will have a President who channeled those ideas in this election to bring about “change”-the easiest thing to do. (Literally. Look up Executive Orders.)

I think your going to wake up one morning and realize that Obama’s speeches didn’t mean all that much in the grand scheme of things. A single wonderfully cathartic incident – electing a minority as POTUS – isn’t going to suddenly change anything in America.

Racism is still alive and well. We took a step. It was a significant one, but by itself it doesn’t change much of anything.

If you want to keep hope alive, then you have to keep working at things and not declare a victory.

You are not a cynic. You’re just bringing your own politics in order to throw mud on the newly-elected president-who, I assume, was not your own candidate.

You’ve also obviously lived in a cave the past 2 years. Did you not hear about Obama’s “Race” speech after the media backlash against Jeremiah Wright? Or Obama’s “Father’s Day” speech? The speeches were powerful because it highlighted America’s racial problems through the lens of his own cultural upbringing–that of which is basically the entirety of his theme in his book “Dreams From My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance.”

Let me give you an excerpt from his speech that rocket launched his political career. On hope in the 2004 elections:

“It’s the hope of slaves sitting around a fire singing freedom songs; the hope of immigrants setting out for distant shores; the hope of a young naval lieutenant bravely patrolling the Mekong Delta; the hope of a mill worker’s son who dares defy the odds; the hope of a skinny kid with a funny name who believes that America has a place for him, too.”

jonolan, maybe you just need a little “hope” too. I may be cynical about the Democratic Party, and by extension, President-elect Obama too. But at least my cynicism is based on facts-and not out of being a sore loser.

Lastly, don’t find random blog posts to comment on to lash out. That’s just trolling. It’s spewing hate and lies and more of the same. After 8 years of it, it’s just not cool.

I guess I’m a cynic.

Obama may raise people’s hopes, but does he represent an actual change in American attitudes?

I read the paragraph quoted above and I just don’t see it. Obama is a well-spoken member of the educational elite. He speaks and carries himself as one of them. I don’t see him as a touchstone for race relations in the US.

Like Obama, I was raised in a white community although I am of visible color. Like Obama, I had parents who came from another country. Like Obama, because I didn’t look white, it was assumed that I was something foreign, me from Japan, he from some Arab nation. Like Obama, I had to tread through the white society being patronized, vilified, and often ignored. Like Obama, I had to speak out for my self and prove to the rest of society that I did belong, in spite of how I looked.

I can see many attributes that Obama has that are related to my life and many others who face the issue of color each day.

An important issue is that Obama is a role model that makes a pathway for others to have the hope that they too need not be held back because of the color of their skin. So now, Jamal the Plumber and his children, can aspire to and become something beyond anything he ever dreamed.

Close your eyes and listen to one of his speeches. Is there any clue as to his race? Look at him. Aside from skin tone and few physical characteristics, does he resemble “Jamal the Plumber?”