Race in the post-election US

On Tuesday, I attended Mentor Awareness Day - hosted by Senator Arlen Spector and Mayor Michael Nutter. There were a few hundred kids and the press conference was in a gymnasium. Background noise + a lot of echo means recording quality was not great.

Mayor Nutter is a celebrity! The kids, even after a morning of sports clinics, were more than willing to wait in a line that snaked around the gym to get Mayor Nutter to autograph their t-shirt. As Senator Spector observed, the kids were much more enthusiastic about cheering for Mayor Nutter than President-Elect Obama.

Which brings me to an uncomfortable observation. You'll understand why it's so uncomfortable in a second. The day was dedicated to encouraging Philadelphians to commit time as mentors to students. I'll search and post some hard data, but Senator Spector said that mentorship programs help keep kids off the street and more focused - obviously having a positive affect on kids' lives. Senator Spector and Mayor Nutter alluded to the President-Elect multiple times, obviously because of his race (most of the kids in the room were African American). They said now the world knows that race is no longer an issue, the election proved that anyone can become anything. They asked who in the room wanted to become President of the United States. As expected, every child raised their hand.

How did I choose to interpret what Nutter and Spector were saying? We can no longer make any excuses. Race is no longer what prevents one from being successful. But this is why I feel uneasy: People like Condoleeza Rice, Toni Morrison, Colin Powell, Michael Nutter (for consistency, I'm focusing on African Americans) have proven over and over again that one can be successful, in spite of race. Have their stories meant nothing?

I also think that people may be celebrating America's new age of race relations a little too soon - The election filled a public sector position and forced Americans as a group to make a statement about race in the US. What about the private sector?

Also, what implications will this have on Affirmative Action laws. Will people be able to play the minority card? (personally, I don't think they should - for the same reason I don't believe in India's quota system). As usual, no answers from me. But I would love to hear your thoughts.