Let me just preface this post by saying that I can't express how thrilled I am to have Barack Obama as our next president. Everything about his campaign has been unprecedented. He is a very special politician who, I believe, will help us heal the deep political divide in this country. But is he the first black president?

If you're from Illinois, you may not recall the issue of race having ever come up during Obama's 2004 run for the senate. That's because it didn't. Obama's republican opponent, Jack Ryan, had to resign from the race in disgrace when it was learned that the grounds his former wife had cited for their divorce were that he had once taken her to a risqué club in Paris. Yes, only a republican and only in this country does a politician resign in disgrace for propositioning his own wife. Anywho, he was replaced by Alan Keyes - a conservative wingnut who didn't even live in Illinois and who also happened to be African-American. Since both candidates were black, there was really nothing to say about race. Being a democrat from Illinois, Obama was probably going to win all along. But when Jack Ryan left the race, he really had it made in the shade and won with something close to 80% of the vote.

Fast-forward to the 2007-2008 democratic primaries. Some said Obama couldn't win because he's black. Others said he couldn't win because he's "not black enough" and therefore wouldn't be able to mobilize African-American voters effectively. Apparently, Obama had whatever margin of blackness he needed to achieve a victory. But is he black enough to count as the first black president? Can the child of a white woman and African (non-American) man who grew up in a white family, was Harvard educated and who is not himself associated with the civil rights movement really represent a significant milestone? I believe that Obama's victory - while special, historic and all around awesome - does not have the same meaning for this country in terms of establishing racial equality as would the election of a Jesse Jackson Jr., an Al Sharpton or (god forbid) an Alan Keyes. Obama's personal family history has never known slavery. He's not a man who has always been 100% sure exactly which box to check but he is a man who has known a lifelong struggle with racial identity. Consequently, his beliefs, ideas, values and even his looks have been shaped in ways that are very different from what we think of as traditionally African-American.

In conclusion: does Obama count as our first African-American president? I don't think so. Does he count as the first black president? Insamuch as this represents something different, sure. My hope as that his election ushers in a era where it doesn't matter.