The Elephant (Still) In The Room

No, not the red, white & blue GOP one.

The one no one wants to acknowledge in this election: the black one.

Little has been said about Barack Obama being African-American. John McCain continually insists that race is not an issue in this election. And, from his perspective, he is probably right. I'll bet that the last thing John McCain thinks about is race.

But it is real, nonetheless. And it goes beyond the private racism exhibited only in the privacy of the voting booth, whether or not acknowledged by the voter.

Like it or not, this is a safety issue. If Barack Obama wins the presidency, his likelihood of being assassinated will be greater than any other president in recent history. And simply because he is African-American.

I am not basing this on facts, or hysteria, but a certain pragmatic realism. I have lived forty miles from the national headquarters of the Ku Klux Klan. I have heard the irrational fear of the takeover of the black man who will wreak revenge on the white man, and heard it not that long ago.

So Barack Obama is making a bold, brave step, running for president of this country. And they had better select his secret service detail very carefully. Because not only will President Obama be the target of the usual wack jobs and terrorists, but of people who truly believe that a black man should not be president. And he knows it.

McCain and Palin scorn William Ayers as a domestic terrorist. But they conveniently ignore that there are among their supporters people who would consider assasinating a black president as the will of the Maker. And not only himself, but his family, too.

Racism dies hard and is still alive and well in America. But it is unfashionable to speak about it, because we are supposed to assume that since the Civil Rights Act of 1964, and years of affirmative action, it all died away.

Dream on, dreamers. But as for me, I will pray every night for the safety of the next president and his family, and keep praying for the next eight years.