What’s with this spate of stories in the media about how Obama might not win because he’s black? Guys, America noticed a long time ago that Obama is black, and yet he managed to win the Democratic nomination (carrying even ultra-white states like Iowa); and in recent weeks he’s been consistently ahead, or way ahead, in the polls. Yeah, but some voters might be harboring secret prejudices that they might not reveal to pollsters, the recent news wave tells us. Well, OK. There’s prejudice in America, make no mistake. But how does this breaking news square with the massive national support the Obama campaign has been receiving?

I’m not going to engage in some mad conspiracy theories, but I have experienced the uncomfortable feeling that I am being prepared for something. If McCain somehow miraculously wins the election, we will be greeted with the explanation: Well, America just wasn’t ready for a black president.

Oh, really? How racist is America? Obviously it depends where you are, and who you’re talking to. Are you talking to a young person in New York City? Or an old white man in Alabama? (No offense to all old white men in Alabama, but as long as we’re talking stereotyping…) You can build a story in black and white depending on your sources, ignoring all the inconvenient shades of grey.

The New York Times today discovered—shocking!—some actual racists in places like Alabama, Colorado and Nevada. Ricky Thompson of Mobile, Alabama (pictured in his John Deere baseball cap) opined, of Obama, “He’s neither-nor. He’s other. It’s in the Bible. Come as one. Don’t create other breeds.”

Ricky, I got news for you. You’re a mongrel too. As we all are. I’d like to introduce you to a company called DNA Tribes. If you contact me (via [email protected]), I will personally foot the bill for you to have your DNA done, so you can see for yourself. Human beings started in a place called Africa. We migrated all over the globe, some of us fading, skin-tone-wise, along the way. We are all a composite of many peoples, from many places, of many colors. That’s just the facts, no matter what your Bible says. (And what’s great about the Good Book is, for everything you think you find therein, I can find something to contradict your reading.)

But forget about all that for a moment. Let’s get back to the story in the Times, which goes on with choice quotes from people like James Halsey, another Mobile resident: “[Obama’s] going to tear up the rose bushes and plant a watermelon patch.”

I just question the fairness or the propriety of giving people like this a chance to spew their race hatred, at this stage of the game. Did it bother anyone else? Especially since it feeds into the slanders of the McCain campaign. Indeed, the article begins: “The McCain campaign’s depiction of Barack Obama as a mysterious ‘other’ with an impenetrable background may not be resonating in the national polls, but it has found a receptive audience with many white Southern voters…” Big news again, folks: there are racists down South—and elsewhere. This we know. But do they deserve this type of hearing—unremarked upon by those who feel differently? I just don't know. The only balance the Times provides is in a quote at the end, from a former racist who now has three biracial grandchildren and says he “found out they were human beings, too.” Oh, I’m sure they’ll be glad to hear that. But why not talk to the grandchildren themselves, or their parents, or some of the other good people in Alabama who would condemn the attitudes of their racist neighbors?

I’ve never been comfortable with the term “post-racial” because it doesn’t seem to reflect reality. It’s a hopeful term. Or, it’s a term conveniently used by right-wing whites—and some blacks—who want to argue against things like affirmative action. Obviously, we have a long way to go. But somebody out there has made Obama—the candidate, and the phenomenon—possible. Somebody who also represents this country and its future. America is made up of all kinds of people, not just these suckers with their dusty old Dixie gibberish.