Some people worry that electing a black president could actually end up hurting African-Americans in the long-run (you can read more about it here). I get the feeling that Tavis Smiley might fit in this category.

This concern often asks whether some whites will find it easier to dismiss matters of institutional racism if they can point to a President Barack Obama as a “get-out-of-racism-free” card.

I’m sure some will (in fact, some already are), but that shouldn’t be surprising given the fact that people try to pull that same card whenever they see a black CEO or multimillion dollar sports athlete. It’s going to happen regardless, so I don’t see how that should factor into my vote. Plus, I tend to think that such concerns vest too much power in the hands of white guilt and white altruism (two matters that blacks have no control over).

Let’s face it, that question is gonna raise its head whenever a black person succeeds at anything. It’s a question people ask with Obama. And it’ll be a question people ask the next time we have a viable black candidate (whether that be 5 or 50 years from now).

But that’s another post for another time.

In the meantime, I saw this clip on The Daily Show and just had to share it with you all.

They have some fun with the issue:

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