He's not black, Arab, socialist, African American, nor an agent of (though possibly an opportunity for) change.
Last night, Andrew Young was one of the few people to note that he's not black. I believe he called him "Afro-European-Asian American", which is sort of close.
People are claiming this was a rejection of fear. But the Democrats were using fear of Bush, just as Bush has used fear of Al-Qaeda. But fears are real ofcourse, and both have been misused.
The anticipation that Obama will change things because of his ethnicity is strange given the experience with Thomas, Rice and Powell (at least the last two are incredibly attempting to rehabilitate themselves).
Perhaps most crucially, Obama's election is frequently portrayed as evidence of US exceptionalism. It's widely being implied that it is the end of racism -- all the while being regarded as "historic" at every turn...
[originally published at husseini.org on Nov. 6, 2008]