What?? Obama is Black?

I was fascinated by the things I read in Francis Wilkinson’s article Benign Neglect. Not only for the fact that I had never heard of the term, but also because the article was entirely about race. I was expecting a typical Democrat vs. Republican, Bush vs. Obama type article and instead, I was stunned by the content.
The entire article is nothing but another comparison of race. I feel like America has been slapped in the face with the racial aspect of this presidential campaign. We get it! Barack Obama is black, we’ve heard! It’s getting old. Let’s move past the fact that a presidential candidate is not white. Surely we can come up with something better to talk about and focus on.
Shouldn’t we be more worried about someone’s ability to lead this country? Someone’s ability to be a successful president has nothing to do solely with their race.
I thought it was very interesting that Wilkinson pointed out Obama must “avoid stirring the racial pot [to keep from] unnerving white voters for whom his race requires a leap of faith.” I think it’s funny to assume white voters are unwilling to vote for Obama based solely on his race. Isn’t that a little presumptuous and borderline shallow? If Obama is not supported by white Americans it will be for reasons above his race.
Wilkinson also mentions how Obama “conspicuously failed to mention that his accomplishment was a historic first,” meaning he is the first black man to run for president. I was enthralled by this statement. If Obama got on stage and mentioned that he was the first black man to run for president, you would probably be able to hear crickets. Why would he do that? Not only would it make him look like an idiot, it would imply that Americans are idiots by not realizing that already. Of course Obama failed to mention his historic achievement; he has much better things say to manipulate Americans with that would actually behoove him.