Geraldine Ferraro Makes a Racially Charged Gaffe About Barack Obama

Geraldine Ferraro, former member of Congress and former candidate for vice president, recently said that Senator Barack Obama was having the success he was having as a Presidential candidate because he is black. She has been trying to explain herself ever since.

While sometimes a gaff, which Ferraro seems to have made, is a truth no one should be speak and no one wants to hear, Ferraro is only partly right. A lot of people are attracted to the Obama candidacy because of his race. African Americans see Barack Obama as a kindred spirit, one of their own who might actually have a chance to win the Presidency. White Americans see him as a chance to expiate the odor of racism by providing the opportunity to vote for an African American.

But Obama also has political skills and a persona that transcends race, which would serve him well no matter what race he happened to be. So there is a legitimate basis for criticizing Ferraro's remarks.

The controversy surrounding Ferraro, who despite having impeccable liberal Democrat credentials, demonstrates the absolute combustibility of race as an issue in the United States. She is not the only person to fall prey to it in recent memory.

Rush Limbaugh, the famous radio talk show host, lost his job as a commentator on ESPN for suggesting that sports journalist were giving Donovan McNabb, a quarter back of the Philadelphia Eagles, an easy time because of his race. There was no racist intent in Limbaugh's remarks, but the furor was such that Limbaugh was forced to resign.

Radio personality Don Imus lost his radio and TV show for calling the members of the Rutgers women's basket ball team "nappy headed hos", a vicious racial slur. The fact that Imus is an equal opportunity offender was not enough to save him. Imus has only recently regained his radio show.