THE SEARCH FOR THE ACCEPTABLE NEGRO

How Democrats and Republicans Alike Struggle With the Inevitability of a Black Presidential Candidate

Barack Obama.

Condelessa Rice.

Deval Patrick.

Maybe 2008?

Did Colin Powell run the ball up the field far enough for the field goal of a Black vice presidential candidate? Presidential candidate, perhaps? He played (knowingly or not) his role well. He was the GOP big wigs' quarterback sneak: Fake to Colin, nominate Cheney. Run a button hook to the U.N. and swear that there are weapons of mass destruction hidden in Saddam's desert. At least, some believed, that Gen. Powell would get his wish to become head of the World Bank for his efforts. Check the World Bank's web site or letterhead and look for the General's name. As of 12:09 p.m. today, it wasn't there.

A tough dilemma for both liberals and conservatives alike -- not to mention those middle-of-the-roaders. This is where you cannot hide from the realities of race in America.

David Dinkins just days before his election as the first Black mayor of liberal bastion New York City, was according to the final polls, supposed to coast to victory over a then unknown prosecutor, Rudy Giuliani, by 10-12 points. When the ballots were counted Dinkins had won by barely two percentage points. Why? Well according to unscientific (but to me credible) exit poll interviews, white voters were saying that at that last critical moment, "I just couldn't pull the lever for him." "Him," meaning a Black man. The uncertainty of voting for an unknown D.A. to run the largest city in the country was far less frightening than the prospect of voting for, "one of them." What would happen if "they ever took over?" "Discriminate against us to get even? "Would they ban white people?

This even though central casting couldn't find a more mind-mannered brother than Dinkins, who regularly attends Passover seders with friends where they end by singing, "We Shall Overcome." No doubt through teary eyes. The Dinkins who squeaked to victory by getting a big boost from rabble-rousing, fire-breathing Rev. Al Sharpton. Clad in running suits, big hats and chest jewelry (long before the tailored suits he now sports) Sharpton walked the streets of the mammoth housing complexes in Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Harlem, to turn out the vote for Dinkins. Why no other Black politician in the city has ever figured out that the way to win city-wide elections and assure some measure of community control is to get housing project dwellers to understand the importance of their vote to their survival, remains a mystery. This Dinkins had an opportunity for inclusion of lower income and working class Blacks and Hispanics into the best fabric of the city. Instead he turned his back on Sharpton after white supporters didn't like his rhetoric. Round two of Dinkins v. Rudy without Sharpton in his corner -- a blowout victory for the prosecutor. And he may, by the way, run for president. He is considered a viable candidate.

You cannot get much nicer than Barack Obama (white American mother, African father) Condelessa Rice (concert pianist, Ph.D) and Deval Patrick, from South Chicago's mean streets to Harvard Law School and on his way to becoming Massachusetts' first Black governor.

You couldn't get much nicer than Powell either -- certainly not more loyal.

And mind you these are but a sample of qualified Black politicians across the country, who span an increasingly wide political spectrum of ideas. So what's the problem with all this talent and "niceness" on the political landscape?

Ah, race -- you just can't ever count it out.

End of Part I: "The Search for the Acceptable Negro"