Not [insert race here] Enough

Today I read an article that mentioned Barack Obama wasn't 'black enough,' or hadn't passed the 'blackness test,' according to some voters.

What does that mean?

What does it mean to be black, white, Hispanic, Asian, etc.?

If, indeed (as suggested above), one's behavior, values, speech patterns, etc., define one's race -- then race is another word for culture. And culture is a set of learned and adopted values, correct?

But Obama's values consist of qualities such as hope, unity, peace, clarity, and accountability. What does this say about the values of those who oppose him base on his 'racial' failings?

Newly elected Philadelphia mayor Michael Nutter had an encounter with a rival -- Chaka Fattah -- on this topic in the Democratic primary. He basically made Rep. Fattah sound like an idea, dismissed the idea of stereotypical behaviors as indications of one's race as "nonsense," and went on to victory (if anyone has a link about this exchange between Nutter and Fattah please send it to me).

From another perspective, Randall Kenndey -- a Harvard law professor -- wrote a book examining the phenomena of the 'sell-out' -- that is, a minority who succeeds in the mainstream world. (http://www.amazon.com/Sellout-Politics-Betrayal-Randall-Kennedy/dp/0375425438/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1200536293&sr)

Eventually -- I hope -- the man-made idea of "race" itself will be eradicated from the Earth. Then we will all live in an Octavia Butler kind of paradise, where these kinds of notions advanced -- that one's 'racial' characteristics should be tested before acceptance -- will be ridiculed as illusion.

Finally -- one should note -- ideas of inborn racial traits and proscribed behaviors for groups of people are also shared by white supremacist groups.