The supposed symbolic relevance of Obama's election

There is much talk about Obama's election being the historic moment showing how far we've come from our racist past, our country now entering a so-called post-racial period. Lets all celebrate a quasi-democratic election of a quasi-black man and pat ourselves on the back for not being racist. This is dangerous stuff, this idea that racism is over because we elected a black president. He's not even Black, he's rich.

By saying Obama is not black what I mean is for an African-American to become successful in American politics, he must to some degree lose his blackness. He has been be educated to speak like an educated person which essentially means learn to talk like a white person.

Obama wasn't a powerful black man talking about racial issues, like Jesse Jackson did. Powerful black men can instill fear in white people, and Obama somehow avoided creating these fears. He did this by downplaying his race, and not bringing issues of race to the forefront. On the completely superficial level that is somehow relevant to many, his skin is not very dark. This is unfortunate and I only bring it up to show how shallow our politics have become and that fact that racism is still alive and well in the US of A.

This election will be used as convenient symbol people can point to and say, "see, we are become less racist with time because we elected a black man".
People think this is the only form of racism we have to address, that after we right the wrongs of slavery we can consider ourselves no longer racist.

I point to Ward Churchill's observation that all American forms of domination, subservience, and imperial ambition are rooted in the subjugation and attempted extermination of the Native Americans. Until we address this original act of of racism and acknowledge that this country is founded on notions of racial superiority, we will continue to be a racist imperial nation.

So if we elect a Native American as president, then maybe we can have this conversation again, but I don't see that happening. It is easier to simply deny the original sins of this nation and not address the underlying racism that this country is founded upon on and which still exists today. Indeed, our whole visage of liberty, democracy, and humanitarian ideals would be shattered if we admitted to the actions and justifications used to obtain this country we call the United States of America. Therefore, this idea of a post-racial society is hogwash, a pretty window dressing for further imperialism which is always based on a notion of racial superiority. The hypocrisy could not be more obvious, and our population could not be more oblivious.