Commentary: The Black Candidate Has to Prove to White America That He’s Not an Elitist? How Ironic

By: Deborah Mathis, BlackAmericaWeb.com

I have no crystal ball and can’t read a tarot card any better than I can read a carrot cake, but this I know: The newly decisive presidential matchup -- Obama v. McCain -- is going to give us plenty to talk about. Shock, surprise, suspense, conflict, contrast.

And, yes, irony -- one of which has already presented itself, as in the irony of a black American man having to prove to poor, rural and working class American whites that he’s not an elitist.

According to the folks who get paid to think about such things, that is going to be one of the newly minted presumptive nominee’s first and most formidable challenges. He is going to have to build a connection with the Sams Clubbers; the Costcoites; the brownbaggers whose lunch today is made up of the remnants of last night’s dinner; the working woman who got her evening gown for the company gala on sale, marked down twice; the owner of the flatbed pickup with the gun rack; the guys who hunt squirrel and rabbit and fish for bass –- and eat, not mount, their kill.

COMMENTARY....