Sen. Barack Obama was on “Good Morning America” on Monday, and of course Diane Sawyer had to ask him about race and the presidency. Obama said that he didn’t think Americans had a problem voting for a black person, so long as that person first demonstrated basic competence. Similarly, a white acquaintence of mine recently met a famous black pro football player. My acquaintence remarked that the player “was actually smart,” “read,” and “spoke well.” My response was, “what did you expect and why?” Of course he had no idea his comment was offensive.
Both comments indicate what it takes in America to be an acceptable Negro: first, you must speak well, the Queen’s English, if you will; second, you must demonstrate that you possess a basic level of competence. The truth of the matter is that white people, whether they want to admit it or not, think blacks are stupid. Once a black person demonstrate to them that he or she is not stupid, the black person is pretty much on equal footing. They’ll even make you CEO or Partner, but that first, basic test is and may always be present. Whites need not jump this first barrier.
