A black man! A woman! At the same time!

Compare and contrast the following comments:

I like Hillary. She's white, and she's a leader. I think she's like a world leader. History will tell if Hillary is that. But what she's trying to do is lead the world, and that's good.

Do I support her over Barack Obama? Oh yeah, totally. It's weird, cos I'm friends with Barack's wife, but in baseball there's a rule that the tie goes with the runner. You hit the ball to first base. If the ball gets there first you are out, if you get there first you are safe, but if it's a tie, it goes to the runner.

That's how I feel about race. If both people are qualified I've got to go with my girl.

and:

I like Barack. He's black, and he's a leader. I think he's like a world leader. History will tell if Obama is that. But what he's trying to do is lead the world, and that's good.

Do I support him over Hillary Clinton? Oh yeah, totally. It's weird, cos I'm friends with Bill, but in baseball there's a rule that the tie goes with the runner. You hit the ball to first base. If the ball gets there first you are out, if you get there first you are safe, but if it's a tie, it goes to the runner.

That's how I feel about race. If both people are qualified I've got to go with my guy.

As you may have guessed, the second comes from a piece in the Guardian, courtesy of Chris Rock, while the first is simply an inversion of his words. And the first, I would imagine, is something few people could get away with saying in the media, while the second is read as an acceptable, even an admirable, honesty. This doesn't mean Chris Rock shouldn't have said the second; or that words equivalent to the first wouldn't be said by quite a few people if they were being really honest. But it does suggest a broad gulf between what is felt and what can acceptably be said in this race for nomination.

Of course, If I were to replace the above references to race with references to gender ("If both people are qualified, I've got to vote for the man/woman"), my feeling is that both statements of preference sound equally otiose. Yet a century ago, the question of whether a woman could ever be preferred over a man was a real debate, while the question of whether a black person could ever be preferred over a white was so far beyond the pale it was no debate at all. It's precisely because of this history of struggle that Chris Rock can say what he does. And, you would hope, it's because people like him are saying what they do that such things won't need to be said by anyone in another hundred years' time.

Then again, would Obama thank Rock for suggesting that all he's got going over Hillary is the colour of his skin?

(Thanks to Patrice Evans at the assimilated negro for the title).