Race Has Never Been a Problem ... For a White Person

Latoya's post over at Racialicous makes a point that's been made many times before, but is made in a sort of funny way. An old article a reader sent in makes the claim:

Despite Obama’s hybrid racial pedigree, he is “black” by the one-drop tradition. Unlike most black Americans, however, his history is not framed by generations of racial subordination. This distinction is significant. Because Obama’s ancestral narrative lacks slavery, his self-image likely lacks the wounds from that history.

A commentor responds to the article:

I am young (29) and white. Like many others in those categories, I am voting for Obama. Like anyone my age, I have never seen a race-based drinking fountain or a segregated bus. Race is not an issue for me and I think that is true for most people of my generation.

Of course this male commentor has never experienced problems with race. By the very benefit of his skin color he is largely blind to some of the really awful shit that happens in America. It's easy when you never experience racism, firsthand or otherwise, to pretend that we live in a world that is "beyond race."