it wasnt all bad, but just another chest beating article by the british media going gaga over obama.

acting like they are the ones who made it possible for obama to get the success he is currently getting, and then using it to talk about british affairs...wtf.

this was the article, and i emailed the writer afterwards, if he responds i will update it here. i found his 'bargainer' and 'challenger' description "interesting".

and Gmog and co will observe that i was paying attention to their responses, even with all the weeds i had to get though..

this is the article Will anti-racists cheer for Obama? | Daniel Finkelstein - Times Online

this was my email response to him: a bit long sorry.
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RE: will anti-racists cheer for obama??

Dear daniel, in response to your article i must say i am finding it increasingly disturbing that in this US election i am seeing so much of the media play the race card, especially the british media. why do you all seem so obsessed with obama's race and always highlighting race relations, as if only the blind cannot see that he is black. almost every day i see the media here highlight racial matters regarding obama, reminding everyone that the SC primary was a "majority black voter affair" for example.

i know how you guys love to forget things as if they never happened, and the fact that you said jesse jackson would 'never be an icon outside his community' but may i remind you that Jesse jackson ran for president in 1988 and got 7m votes, and won 11 contests in many majority white areas, basically as it stands right now with all the obama hype you guys seem to be obsessed with, Jesse jackson's achievements in the US general election have not yet been beaten by barack obama and senator john edwards, and mayor giuliani along with many other prominent white candidates of the past would love such numbers as jesse jackson garnered, so stop making such a big fuss of race in this election.

furthermore, nobody should be silly or naive enough to assume that bcos obama wins the election that somehow racism is gone forever. racism and prejudice is based on evil and ignorance, which as such, evil and ignorance cannot be eradicated as long as people are human, as optimistic as you might want to be. The passage could be easier, not guaranteed.

As a 24 year old black british graduate, and since you have made such broad claims regarding the impact of the US election on the UK, how about i touch closer to home, like lets see more black members of the BRITISH parliament for starters before you jump across the pond to look at the US glass ceiling which is at least far higher than the UK's.
I remember reading a labour party manifesto in college when tony blair was running for office, and he was delivering a speech to black voters and said something along the lines of "in this diverse britain we have today, there are no black ambassadors, no black senior judges, no black members of cabinet, and black people are severly under represented in the house of commons"

please enlighten me david, if some 11 years later much of this has changed? Paul boateng and who else as an ambassador? and the last i checked there was also just ONE black senior high court judge, while with Gordon browns Goverment the black officials that were with blair have moved sideways not upwards, the trend in the house of commons and party selections has not changed, not even at local council level. so i dont see why or how you can compare the US to the UK, when they dont have a problem of senior (descision making, not just PR perfect) black officials in the police, corporate, business, media, and governmentt at ALL levels etc etc, and even with all that they have achieved, we see on a daily basis that there is still a glass ceiling, prejudice, as well as covert, and overt racism.

neither can you compare the influence the NAACP and other black / minority caucauses have in the US over a whole range of affairs, to what the UK used to call the CRE and now the new C.E.H.R. which is ultimately a dumbing down of pretty much what was merely a thinktank, powerless but makes govt policy seem inclusive and it may have had some influence over the racial equality debate.
This has now been bunched up with other issues which are no less important but only make it a classic case of british amalgamation of a state of affairs that just lead to less of a voice for those whom they are supposed to be speaking for. This is what lee jasper is arguing against, trevor phillips has no choice as head of the old and new guard but to be the person at the receiving end.


Therefore, obama winning the US presidency doesnt mean black people should suddenly 'wake up' and ignore what is infront of them, that i feel is quite insulting and ignorant of you and anyone to claim. if there was a black american senator in the 1800s why is it supposed to be a wake up call to black people that 'it can now be done'?? they or WE always knew it could be done, to achieve whatever one set their mind's to including the oval office, but if the game isnt fair and the rules for one are not the same for the other then we can only continue to press for them to be made fair which is done in a whole variety of ways, including a decision by some not to play the game at all, and some will choose to be like lee jasper, and others like trevor phillips.

Thus, i know that a black prime minister is possible in the UK, but how would this be possible if no black candidates are 'selected' to run? i know that there are many experienced black police officers in the Met, and i know that there can be a black MET commisioner, but let's even see a black head of operation trident first! afterall it is claimed that this body was set up to investigate 'black on black' crime yet a black person has not once headed this task force set up to tackle what is deemed a black problem. see the irony? that may not be 'racist' to you and it isnt as such to me, but it is definately plain stupid.

so its fair enough to draw comparisons with america and beat your chests that 'hey it aint so bad afterall black folk so stop complaining', but perhaps you should just take a look around your office or board meetings at the Times and ask yourself if what is being claimed is actually the case at hand.
Is there a 'barack obama' at the times newspaper? charity begins at home?

regards

T anderson.

Could have done with the "charity" remark. As if hiring black folk is charity.

havent you heard the saying charity begins at home??? as in sort out your house first