Acceptably Black

As I skimmed through this week's issue of Ad Age, little did I expect to find a rather controversial article written by ad critic Bob Garfield on Barack Obama's presidential campaign. The article is titled,

"Why Even Hardened Racists Will Vote for Barack Obama: In the Electoral Marketplace, He Had to Pass the Halle Berry Test"

Published just after Obama won the Iowa primary, the article has generated some very interesting responses. In fact, I ended up engaged in this very conversation with two Americans going from the Alps to Geneva just last night. The idea that Americans are voting for Barack Obama based on the fact that his skin color falls into the range of acceptable blackness, almost as if to make some kind of statement that "Hey look at me! I'm not biased by race or gender or pick your favorite cause" is compelling, slightly flawed, but compelling nonetheless. I have no doubt that there are plenty of people out there who are wowed by his incredibly persuasive rhetoric and then neglect to look beyond it see if there is substance to his storytelling. I believe there is and what he lacks in experience he will make up for in choosing intelligent advisers who will help fill in the gaps. Only time will tell, we still have to get through the rest of the primaries to see if he'll make America's cut for president.