I’m no Barack Obama, I know that very well. I find managing the finances of the school work at challenging enough. I couldn’t imagine running any country much less?this country.?That said, I graciously?state with the utmost humility that?we both face similar challenges. Of course?the challenges I speak of are those of race in the United States. Indeed many people, black and white, say that we?should leave the past in the past. They assert that times are better and that?black folk no longer have anything to?complain about. They?identify Al Sharpton and Jesse Jackson?as useless relics from a time?preferably forgotten. I’m not sure how true that is. Still?I, more often than not, receive comments such as this on my blog:

The problem with blacks is their inferiority complex that springs from the the embarassment the majority of their race bring to a decent society. Until they start acting like decent people as a whole, instead of robbing and murdering as a second nature among themselves, the black PROBLEM will continue unless they as a group call a spade a spade.

I understand that the name of this site alone makes me something of a target for such ramblings, but this is not the first time I have been forced to moderate this kind of bile. The anonymity of the world wide web makes it convenient for racists to speak their mind. I almost encourage it in the sense that I rather know what’s out there than be left guessing. I have never once tried to fool myself into believing that this kind of thinking has gone the way of the Dodo, though I occasionally hope that the world my son inherits will bear witness to?continued progress.

Where is all of this race?stuff coming from, you wonder? This weekend?the AP has made widely available the results of a study that makes it very clear that Obama has to get over the race hurdle if he is to become the president of the U.S. When you think about it the reality is that the presidential