Was Harry Reid right?

I've read a lot about Senator Harry Reid's remarks over the past days, except that he might have been right. That was redressed today in a post by Jeff Zeleny on the New York Times' Caucus blog. Zeleny's source is none other than Barack Obama himself, who was very aware of the need to keep white voters at ease. As Zeleny puts it:

The comment – made to the authors of a new book on the presidential campaign – is not so different from remarks Mr. Obama has made himself while navigating the complicated intersection of race and politics in America during his rapid rise to the White House.

It's nice to see a little honesty about racial politics in America, a refreshing break from the sanctimony on both sides of the Democratic-Republican divide. Give it a read and you will see what I mean--I hope.

PS--The use of the word "Negro" is not necessarily racist, and depends on the context.

Feigned outrage. Rutgers professor of history, journalism and media studies David Greenberg has some interesting comments on the insincere reactions to Reid's remarks, in a commentary in the Los Angeles Times.

A truth, crudely put. So says the Washington Post's Pulitzer Prize winning columnist, Eugene Robinson, on Truthdig.