Race for the White House

In an article entitled "It's OK to hope for a black President", Brit Michael Tomasky asks:

Is it all right for Obama supporters to back him in part because he's black?

This isn't the same thing as his race being an advantage for him, which was Ferraro's argument.

First of all, I don't think that was Ferraro's argument at all. As a matter of fact, all Ferraro was saying was excactly what Tomasky is saying without the explicit judgmentalism. Ferraro was saying that a lot of people want to vote for him at least in part, and often in very large part, because he's black. That's just a fact. She should not be punished for it.

What Tomasky is saying, is, in fact, insidious. He's saying that what she is saying is correct and that it's ok.

But here's my test of whether or not it's good. If you can replace "Black" with "White" and "White" with "Black" and it's still ok, then it's ok. If you can't, then you've got some philosophical inconsistencies to deal with.