Is Obama the end of black politics?

...my cynical self says that if the New York Times is blaring it on their front pages, not only is the issue over, but dead and buried. Actually, what i found more fascinating was the article preceding the black politics article. The piece on Hanif Kureishi and even the q&a with amy tan, speak volumes about race, class and politics as world issues and not just a black american racial political discussion. The line in the Kureishi article, a quote by Hannah Rothschild,"these writers(the generations of non-white british citizens) aren't voices from elsewhere, these voices are from here, these are our voices." Juxtaposed with the end of black politics article, I felt as if the Kureishi article is more informative about where old school identity politics is headed. The writer of the black politics article, self disclosing he is racially white, wants to engage the issue of a generational shift for black american politicians, yet gets tangled up in the same language of racial divisiveness and in someways, stereotypes that have plauged these dissusions for centuries. That he admits his blunderings is the only reason i kept reading.

What i am hoping for this generation of politicians across the board is that the message finally gets across to folks: blacks, asians, multiracial people, native americans, Latina/o's, we are not visitors. We are not guest. we all are products of this nutty united states. Stop acting like you didn't know we existed in a form other than how you would like to see us. Step up and represent all of us. Poor, rich, whatever race or identity.

Another day i'll write about how tiring it is to hear people who sit in the same meetings and classrooms i inhabit and never clue into what a privilege it is to be clueless to the classism, racism, sexism,and heterosexism that lurks among us.

I try not to get caught up in this stuff but it's like a moth to a flame...