letter to NYTimes editor, 17 October 2008

This line, "Given the fact that he is not, in fact, a white male," from the magazine article, Working for the Working-Class Vote, represents a retrograde view of race in this country. Because the simple fact is that Obama *is* a white male, at least every bit as much as he is a black male.

The phrase used harkens back to the time of the "one drop" rule; that any drop of "black" blood stains the whiteness of a person. This idea is so preposterous, it leaves me flabbergasted when I consider it. Yet, here it is reflected in this article, stated as if it is an obvious truth.

Maybe there is no easy way to classify the race of Obama. I, for one, would rather see clumsy attempts at getting it right, rather than relying on easy phrases that give room to old prejudices in our contemporary discourse.