Inauguration Day

They say we are swearing in our first "black" president today. Obama is black because his father is African? What if Africans had settled America and for a time enslaved captured Europeans? Would we be calling Obama our first white president? Africans have brown skin and Europeans have an odd light tan color. Calling us black and white seems like a bizarre exaggeration designed to perpetuate racism. When I look at Obama on TV he appears to have a slightly darker shade of tan than many of the people around him. So what? When will this preoccupation with skin color and ethnic origin end so we can talk about things that really matter? We often hear that Obama is the most leftward leaning member of the Senate and I never hear anybody disagree with that. Where he will lead this nation is vitally important. His skin is not.