ELECTING HIM WAS THE EASY PART...:

2009 transformed US racial dynamics (JESSE WASHINGTON, 1/01/10, Associated Press)

The dynamics of race were transformed in 2009 because the most powerful person on Earth was no longer white. But despite that potent symbol — and sometimes because of it — race remained a volatile and often divisive subject.

"It felt like an evolution to me, something that created a paradigm shift," says Dr. Joy DeGruy, a black author and speaker who focuses on racial healing. "We moved a quantum leap forward."

Conservative radio host Mike Gallagher calls the change "profound" and says there were fewer racial controversies last year than in almost any other during his 30-plus years of radio.

"I get the sense from my audience collectively that there is a sigh of relief, that we've made progress this year," says Gallagher, who is white. "Because I truly believe that good people don't want to be mired in racial conflict."

....after all, he was the first serious black candidate (as oppsed to Jesse and Al), and Colin Powell or Condi Rice would easily have been elected as Republican nominees. The question is, how will the PC police react to the genuine paradigm shift of him being criticized as an inept president irrespective of his ethnicity.

Posted by Orrin Judd at January 1, 2010 8:35 AM