Passing

So now there's a huge controversy about Harry Reid's use of the word "Negro" and other racial remarks in reference to the president. Rightly or wrongly, "negro" is a word which, as we noted last week, is featured right there on Section 9 of the 2010 federal US Census form. Now, before you get you panties in a twist, Sandy Banks at the LAT has a few words that could help set you straight:

Harry Reid doesn't owe me an apology.

Sure, it was a little odd to see the term "Negro" used outside of a history class or documentary. Sounds like Reid is stuck in the last century.

But the Senate majority leader didn't say anything many Americans -- especially us Negroes -- don't already know.

If you're black, it is easier in this country to be light-skinned.
[...]
Reid was stating a fact, however indelicate and impolitic.

Obama's appearance and avoidance of "Negro dialect" -- except when reaching out to blacks -- allowed white voters to feel comfortable with his politics and his intellect. He seemed more like them than like Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson; less threatening, more like a guy you'd have over for dinner.

Reid expressed regret this weekend "for offending any and all Americans, especially African Americans," with comments he made in 2008 that only now have come to light.

But I don't know why I should be offended.

If anyone is insulted, it should be whites -- whom Reid accused implicitly of being willing to vote for a black man only if he talks like them and is not too black.