This Just In: Historic ‘08 Election Didn’t Squelch Racism

The Associated Press delivered the sobering but inescapable news on Monday that the election of the nation’s first black president didn’t completely eradicate racism in America. Thanks, AP!

AP via Google News:

The day after Barack Obama was elected president, Kari Fulton heard a white colleague proclaim that racism in America is dead.

She cringed, worrying it might be a sign of flagging interest in the fight against discrimination.

“In reality, racism is still very much alive and well,” said Fulton, who graduated last year from Howard University, a historically black college in the nation’s capital.

Obama’s election has generated a euphoria among black Americans that is palpable. For some, the weight of history has finally been eased after generations of struggling for equality. But amid the postelection glow of racial harmony lurks a sobering fact: Racial disparities persist — in just about every measurable form — and they won’t simply melt away because the nation has a black president.

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Flickr / chad davis

The fist bump heard ‘round the world: Michelle and Barack Obama celebrate his win as the Democratic Party’s presidential nominee in June.