Race and Class, Redux

An article apparently from the Chicago Tribune similtaneously argues that race creates completely different Americans and that Blacks aren't sure if Obama 'reflects their interests'.

“In both cases—in the value system and in the case of Biden’s comments—we do have a situation where Americans are trying to talk across the wide chasm that is race,” said Melissa Harris-Lacewell, a professor of politics and African-American studies at Princeton University... Perceptually, blacks and whites live in vastly different worlds."

and then...

Obama now finds himself needing to bridge racial divides—even among blacks. Given his racial heritage and upbringing in a white household, Obama has prompted skepticism among African-Americans who have questioned whether he has enough in common with them to reflect their interests.

How can you rationally try to say that race separates people, but then that the Black population might not accept Obama because of his background?

Race does not equal ethnicity does not equal culture.
Social construction versus country of origin versus family and community values.

Not interchangeable.

The issue that the article is really trying to write about is classism.