My response to this blog post by Gealouxy, which I’ve this quote out of.

So, will everyone just shut up about him being the first black president? It doesn’t really look or sound good and it alienates everyone else. At the end of the day, the color of his skin will not matter.

I thought about this for a while.  My conclusion is this: I don’t think anyone needs to “shut up” about him being the first black president.  It’s an historic event, and it’s worth talking about, being happy about, and celebrating.  In fact, intelligent people who did NOT vote for Obama, are disappointed he won, and disagree with his politics are ecstatic for what his win means for Civil Rights Movement.

It doesn’t look or sound “not good” to talk about it; on the contrary, it would be ridiculous to ignore it.  I don’t see how it can alienate anyone (well, maybe those that hate Civil Rights… I’m not afraid of offending them.)

Of course, there needs to be a line drawn between two things: the historical event that is having the first black President and the presidency of Barack Obama, the man himself.  I think most people find this easy to do.  You can be thrilled at the first while simultaneously being devastated at the second, or you can be happy for both, like I am.  Hey, you could even be a racist and hate that there’s a black man in the White House even though his political ideals align with your own.

I’m sad for everyone who voted for him JUST because of his skin color.  That’s very unfortunate, but I don’t think it’s where most people are.