Getting the message

I guess the conventional American is a racist bigot whose gag reflex is triggered by the sight of NYC's new mayor with his black wife and biracial children.   At least that is what Richard Cohen of the Washington Post opines in his latest descent into the underbelly of American politics.   As I have pointed out numerous times since President Obama's election, more that 50% of the opposition to his policies is driven by the racism that is still alive and well in many areas of our nation.  Even though a recent poll shows 87% of respondents approve of interracial marriage, I still think many of the affirmative responses are approvals in the abstract.   "Not my son or daughter", would probably be the response if the question were "Would you approve your child marrying a black man or woman".  Of course we have come a long way from the anti miscegenation laws of the Jim Crow south.  But we still have a long way to go if the WaPo's op-ed pages are any indication of present attitudes about race in these United States.