Talking vs being

Talking about race might come across as insensitive, but it's not the same as racist talk, as Mary Mitchell explains in the Chicago Sun Times:

If it were not so pathetic, the political fallout over remarks made by Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid would be hilarious.

Reid is under attack for saying privately in 2008 that then-Sen. Barack Obama would be a successful black presidential candidate because of his "light-skinned" appearance and because he doesn't speak with a "Negro dialect unless he wanted to have one."

Frankly, a lot of African Americans must have yawned.

Reid only confirmed what a lot of black voters thought -- which is why Obama wrestled with questions about "his blackness" throughout his campaign.

Indeed, the people who publicly raised concerns about Obama's "color" most often were not white. They were black.

For instance, during the heated primary between Obama and Hillary Clinton, former U.N. Ambassador Andrew Young said that former President Bill Clinton was "every bit as black as Obama."

The racially charged message was intended to warn African-American voters against embracing Obama out of black pride because he looked like one of them.

Reid also isn't the first white senator to give Obama a backhanded racial compliment.

Vice President Joe Biden's formal announcement that he was running for president was marred by comments he made about having to compete against Obama.

"You got the first mainstream African American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy. I mean that's a storybook, man," Biden told a reporter with the New York Observer.

GOP smells blood

Reid has personally apologized to Obama about his comments, but his kowtowing isn't likely to be enough.

We are in a political environment where Republicans are desperately searching for a hammer they can use to smack down the Democratic agenda.

When used to describe Obama's attractiveness, the terms "light-skinned," "Negroes," and "dialect" are words loaded with negative energy.