Race Relations in the Age of Obama

A white women and a black woman discuss the outcome of the election in a San Francisco communter train. The white woman apologizes for slavery. Is that a sign that race relations have changed, that racism is slowly disappearing? Here is the article that discusses this issues:

Talk about Race? Relax, it's okay.

I found the following comment about this article helpful:

I moved to Johannesburg just before the election, and it seems that EVERYONE in South Africa talks about race all the time. Maybe it's because Truth and Reconciliation stressed the importance of putting everything out there, but it seems that nobody talks about apartheid anymore. I think about it from my American perspective, but I seem to be the only one who does. They're just carrying on being South African.

In the US, we always think about race but we don't talk about it. I bristle at being referred to as "African-American." I feel like the hyphen implies my American-ness is somehow diluted. Why should someone whose family has been in the US for a generation or two be unequivocally American when my family goes back on American soil much longer? It doesn't matter to me whether my ancestors' immigration was forced or voluntary at this point. I have indigenous Cherokee ancestors too. I am American, of a makeup that is remarkably common.

America has a long way to go with respect to race relations. A President Obama doesn't mean the journey is over, but it's a step in the right direction.