Re: agreed almost completely, but with a nuance...

I think you both have good points, and would only add that a "traditional", "slave-descended" American black can also go far, but only if they adopt certain beliefs and attitudes that American blacks often think are "white". Condoleeza Rice has managed this, though it is perhaps not surprising that the two black men who have broken the highest racial barriers - Colin Powell and Barack Obama - are not "traditional" blacks. I think that the black community at one time had very good reason to assume a position of "race loyalty", much as we peds have assumed at present. In the face of unremitting hatred and ignorance, any group has to pull together and close ranks if they want to survive. Unfortunately, this can lead to some real abuses when people who should be held accountable are not held accountable, which can easily turn into a vicious circle.

However, I sense a growing awareness among blacks that race is no longer the automatic barrier that it once was, and with Powell, Rice, and Obama leading the way it seems to me that there is a general reassessment going on, and a great many changes going on in the black community. Obama's election victory may well be a sign that that vicious circle has ended and a virtuous circle has begun. I don't expect that the black community will give up its own traditions and history, but I do expect to see greater integration with the mainstream.

I also expect that in 20 years time Bush Jr. will be given a great deal of credit for this transition. Whatever else you can say about "W", he has certainly reached beyond white America when making presidential appointments.

I also find it funny how easily we think of the black experience as an urban experience. I think I know more rural blacks than urban ones.

Hmmm. That went on longer than I intended.