Something to think about.

First we had slavery, then separate water fountains and rest rooms and ghettos, and then we had the gradual improvement in black wages and standard of living, and then we had the 1964 Civil Rights act, after which the rate of improvement in black wages slowed down but continued, and then we had affirmative action which produced a considerable drag of animosity, but still wages improved. Indeed, the income of black two-earner families is HIGHER than that of comparable white families and has been for several years.

And despite some's claim that Bill Clinton was the first black president, there has been some discussion about when America "might be ready" for a black president.

But then, though nobody was paying much attention, the number of Hispanics surpassed that of black folk in America. And the gap is widening and will likely continue to widen, what with the refusal of anybody in power to do anything substantive about the porous border with Mexico.

So now what? Will the next president be black, Barack Obama? Most analysts doubt it. Is Barack Obama the absolute last chance for a black to be president in the USA? Seems likely that, if a minority is elected president in the future, it will be a Hispanic--or perhaps a woman--but not a black. I find that somehow very sad.

I had sent a telegram to George H. W. Bush prior to the 1988 election and suggested strongly that he consider Colin Powell as vice president. He ignored my idea, and perhaps he was right to do so given Powell's rather squirelly disloyalty and misunderstanding about the war against Muslim jihadism. I had thought, given his military record, that he'd be a fine choice and then would have a good shot at the presidency.

I had no clue at the time that it might have been the next-to-last real shot at the presidency for a black man. Or woman, perhaps.

Condoleezza Rice might make a good candidate, but the irrationality of black voters would probably doom her chances So now it may be that Barack Obama has the last real chance for a black to be elected president. Sad to say, he's not ready for prime time yet. If he were, I'd vote for him..