A day or two before the election, I received this e-mail from a relative. He had apparently been offended by an e-mail sent to him quoting Obama from his book. I didn't send him the e-mail, but was included in his idiotic response. The idea that we should elect a president based on anything other than qualifications is offensive. Regardless of who won the election, this IS a country of inclusion. You CAN achieve your dreams. The election shows what most people have been saying for decades, may the best man (or person) win.

I didn't vote for Obama. He isn't qualified. If he was white, he wouldn't be qualified. His policies are different than many of my beliefs. So are Ted Kennedy's, Nancy Pelosi's. I disagree with Harry Reid, Barney Frank, Christopher Dodd. I disagree with Hannity, Morris and Rove...

My son was called racist in school yesterday because he said he wouldn't have voted for Obama. How sick is that?

Looking again at the e-mail below...do you see any policies he supports? Any programs he is in favor of having Obama implement? Any sane argument to vote for Barack ? How do you debate someone so narrow-minded?

"I'm probably taking away the wrong message from this e-mail, but I see it as just further evidence that racism still divides this country. Barack Obama is open and honest in revealing what really motivated him as a youth, and it is a sad testament to the huge rift underlying the "politically correct" discussion of race. I'm sure that most whites have had similar thoughts about black friends and family - but they are far less honest about admitting it.

Electing a black President would go a long way toward providing a new image of blacks in America - one that seeds the subconscious of both black youths (that America actually is inclusive and truly supports the American Dream) and whites (that there really is nothing to fear from black equality). And more importantly, it would send a message to the world that America really and truly is a place of freedom that not only preaches equality, but allows it and even encourages it.

Just the fact that an e-mail like this is being circulated is very disheartening proof that for some narrow-minded people this election is more about race than it is about leadership or American values. I feel sorry for people who don't have the capacity to see how very much the same we all are - black, white, Christian, Muslim - or that there is good and evil in everything, even within themselves."
Mike