Yes, being happy over the skin color of your president could be interpreted as closset racism. Unless white people are allowed to be "glad" when a white president is elected? Yeah ... sounds very racist doesn't it !
Hey, if you want to be happy when a white president is elected, be my guest. It's a free country. That's kind of the point. Of course it would be kind of pointless, as like all of the major candidates for president for like the last, I don't know, couple o' centuries?, have been white. You'd be like, happy every election except the last two. Not the end of the world, either way. Also, racial pride becomes a more complex issue when you've been subjected to institutionalized slavery for a really long time. That doesn't justify racism in return, but it does create by its very existence a struggle for identity, be it racial or as an individual, in a world that has for a very long time abused and victimized you on the basis of race. It's kind of human for black folks to feel joy about a black president. (If he sucks, in the estimation of history, not so much, however...it'd be meaningless if he does the job poorly.)
The reason why some people have been happy to see a black president is because there have been no serious candidates who were black for, well, the majority of U.S. history. It's not, in my opinion, happiness to the exclusion of all who aren't black (since plenty of non-blacks were just as happy to see it happen and were the ones who voted for him), rather it's happiness to see someone who, not that long ago in this country would've had to present his freedom papers if he'd been seen walking alone in certain areas, is actually President of the United States. If anything, that to me is the triumph of Americans as a whole over a long history of racism against blacks. It said to me that people were willing to overlook the color of his skin (which not very long ago would've guaranteed he didn't get on a TV set unless he was dancing and singing with wide eyes) and assess--albeit with varying degrees of accuracy--whether or not he was a viable candidate for the Presidency. I'm just as hopeful that a female President, regardless of race, will happen one day, and I think it should've happened a long time ago, frankly.
This is an era where you can do anything you put your mind to and it's a heck of a lot easier than when it was illegal for a certain race of people who were slaves to learn how to read. There are no excuses to be made for people who simply don't try to better themselves when the opportunities are there for them and race is no longer a major boundary for success in life that requires a massive struggle to get around. So obviously, there is considerably less of a race problem because of the progress that has been made in the laws and in people's hearts, thankfully. But it is still there. I felt it myself in a small Missouri diner a few years ago, where my order wasn't taken for an hour while whites came in, ordered, got their food and started eating. There were no other blacks in the diner and it was a very small diner with 99.9% white patrons, so it had to be because I was black, not because I'd somehow been overlooked. Racism is still real, but thankfully it's a lot easier for everyone of any race to beat it because the ignorance that spawns such prejudices can be easier dispelled by means of education.
Now with that said, nothing justifies racism by blacks or against blacks or against anyone. People of all races come together in this country because of their belief in a common goal--that of freedom and equal rights for all. I've never believed in some sort of 'us against them' mentality. Sometimes there's a little comedy in looking at the differences between different cultures, but to suggest that one is better than the other is obviously wrong. We're all just different.
I personally disagree with some of the stuff Obama has done, and I see no problem with people being critical of his policies if they disagree. As long as it's because they disagree with him and not because of his skin color, have at him. I'll join you.
--sd-7
