Obama is only the third AA senator to be popularly elected to the US Senate...

[Emit]

and the fifth AA to serve. I am ashamed to say I was not aware of that statistic until I recently read it in his book, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance. While I am not finished yet with reading this book, what I have read of it so far has served to confirm that I made the best decision in casting my vote for Obama in my caucus back in January.

Breaking New Ground -- African American Senators

In 1870, Hiram Revels of Mississippi became the first African American senator. Five years later, Blanche K. Bruce of Mississippi took the oath of office. It would be nearly another century, 1967, before Edward Brooke of Massachusetts followed in their historic footsteps. In 1993, Carol Moseley-Braun broke new ground again, becoming the first African American female to serve as U.S. senator. When Senator Barack Obama of Illinois took the oath of office on January 3, 2005, he became the fifth African American to serve and the third to be popularly elected.

http://www.senate.gov/pagelayout/history/h_multi_sections_and_teasers/Photo_Exhibit_African_American_Senators.htm



And, as has been widely reported, he was the first AA elected to head Harvard's Law Review:

The Harvard Law Review, generally considered the most prestigious in the country, elected the first black president in its 104-year history today. The job is considered the highest student position at Harvard Law School.

The new president of the Review is Barack Obama, a 28-year-old graduate of Columbia University who spent four years heading a community development program for poor blacks on Chicago's South Side before enrolling in law school. His late father, Barack Obama, was a finance minister in Kenya and his mother, Ann Dunham, is an American anthropologist now doing fieldwork in Indonesia. Mr. Obama was born in Hawaii.

''The fact that I've been elected shows a lot of progress,'' Mr. Obama said today in an interview. ''It's encouraging.

''But it's important that stories like mine aren't used to say that everything is O.K. for blacks. You have to remember that for every one of me, there are hundreds or thousands of black students with at least equal talent who don't get a chance,'' he said, alluding to poverty or growing up in a drug environment.

~snip~

The president of the law review usually goes on to serve as a clerk for a judge on the Federal Court of Appeals for a year, and then as a clerk for an associate justice of the Supreme Court. Mr. Obama said he planned to spend two or three years in private law practice and then return to Chicago to re-enter community work, either in politics or in local organizing.

~snip~

http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0CE2DC1631F935A35751C0A966958260


IMHO, Obama is an exceptional human being regardless of the color of his skin.



As a side note, since many are attempting to discuss Obama and the AA vote, I thought some would be interested in this discussion on NPR on Talk of the Nation that dates back to January 31, 1008. Interesting and insightful discussion and comments:

Listen Now <48 min 6 sec> add to playlist

Talk of the Nation, January 31, 2008 · On Saturday, Sen. Barack Obama rode a wave of support from African-American voters to an overwhelming victory in South Carolina's Democratic primary. In a special broadcast from Morgan State University in Baltimore, M.D., Neal Conan hosts a discussion about Obama and the intersection of race and politics.

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=18576275

[joeybee12]

1. I count Mosley-Braun, BO, and Baba Wawa's boy-toy...

...yep, that's 3.

Am I the only one who thinks Baba should have kept her mouth shut? Oh, apparently Star Jones agrees with me.

[Emit]

6. Forgot about Walters' recent tell-all with Oprah @ Brooke

I didn't watch it. And I have no idea what Star Jones may have said about it all -- sorry, my pop culture news is very limited without cable teevee :)

[joeybee12]

7. Here's a nice quote from Star--Meow!

"It is a sad day when an icon like Barbara Walters, in the sunset of her life, is reduced to publicly branding herself as an adulterer, humiliating an innocent family with accounts of her illicit affair, and speaking negatively against me all for the sake of selling a book," Jones told Us. "It speaks to her true character."

[Parche]

2. AA?

American Airlines?




:woohoo: :hi:

[Emit]

3. lol, African American wouldn't fit in the OP subject line

[Lerkfish]

4. Hey lookee everybody! Obama's BLACK! doesn't that scare you?

sheesh.

if its not an issue, stop bringing it up like we don't already know. This is like a concern troll post.

[Emit]

5. excuse me?

did I miss something? My post is like a concern troll post?

[Lerkfish]

8. no, sorry. what I mean is why do we keep bringing up that he's black?

even if your heart is in the right place, which it apparently is, why keep making it an issue?

everytime its reinforced gives weight to the racebaiting. How about he's just an excellent or good candidate, why does he have to be an excellent or good black candidate?

not sure you'll get my point, but you are damning with faint praise when you make the issue of his blackness coupled with his success more of a story than his success.