At the risk of sounding politically incorrect...

Is this man black or not? I mean, he calls himself an African-American. In this picture he looks black. But I've seen some pictures where he looks really white. He's a democrat, so he's probably black, since everybody knows no self-respecting person of color ever crosses over to the dark side.

Seriously, I have been amazed by the debate in the media over whether or not he's black. It just seems so racist. Isn't the whole definition of racism paying more attention to the color of one's skin than who they are as a person? But Senator Obama is clearly going to have to deal with the issue of whether or not he's black before he can start winning people over with his policies.

First, the facts. Senator Obama is the son of a Kenyan immigrant (black) and a white woman from Kansas. So obviously he is biracial. But apparently to some, that makes you black. Kind of like being half Jewish. But the fact that he doesn't descend from African slaves has some political leaders saying that he's not truly African-American, because that criteria is apparently embedded within the classification. I really didn't know this before.

Senator Joe Biden thinks he's black. In fact, he praised him for being the first bright, articulate clean mainstream African American presidential candidate. Holy cow, he actually said that. Apparently this didn't go over too well with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton, which makes me giggle just a little bit. I apologize.

We've all heard that Clarence Thomas, Colin Powell and Condi Rice aren't really black because they are sell-outs to their race. Even though Clarence Thomas came from a tough upbringing in South Carolina after his father abandoned his family and he and his mom had to go live with her father, helping him make ice deliveries. Condi grew up in Birmingham during the height of the Civil Rights movement, yet somehow this doesn't count towards her blackness. Colin Powell grew up in Harlem, and yet he's discredited because he attained his success through the military. And, oh yeah, they are all Republicans.

And yet, we've also been told for years that Bill Clinton was the first black president. What does that even mean? Here's a very white guy from Arkansas, of all places, and he gets called the first black president? How insulting is that to people like Senator Obama who actually do strive to be the nation's first black president? (Incidentally, on this issue I actually agree with Maxine Waters, which will most likely never happen again so it's worth mentioning.)

Anyway, my point is that it frustrates me that race is still such an issue. All the pundits are hypothesizing about whether or not the country is ready for a black president. I'm offended by that. I have to tell you, I like Barack. He seems like a genuinely nice person, certainly intelligent and well-spoken. The only problem I have with him is that I disagree with his politics nearly 100%. I think on Iraq he is just dead wrong. He is one of the most liberal senators in Congress. But if I agreed with him politically, I'd vote for him in a heartbeat. My gosh, if I was a liberal and I had the choice between Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton?!? What a no-brainer.

And yet if by some reason Senator Obama does win the Democratic nomination (although he may have to pry it out of Mrs. Clinton's cold, dead fingers) the race card will be fully on the table. As happened last fall when Harold Ford, Jr., was running to be the junior senator from the state of Tennessee, I will be told that I'm not voting for him because he's black, rather than the much more obvious reason that he opposes me politically in almost everything I stand for. I really don't want to go through that again.

You have to give him props, though. He's got an incredibly steep hill to climb if he wants to beat Senator Clinton out of the nomination. I just hope somebody's got his back.