How might these unaffiliated and presumably more objective voters react to the nominee, controversy, statement, or gaffe? But who are these Independents? And just how independent are they anyway?

The White House and many liberal pundits have been trapped by the false either/or paradigm that refuses to accept the new racial order. The net result is that they cave to the right-wings' insistence that to notice race is itself racist.

The merits of a particular case aside, truth is that almost no one embraces the racist label. This is true even in the relatively rare instance where the accused has practically scratched the word into his forehead.

Almost all black men recognize the contemptuous look Jonathan Martin gave Obama on Thursday.

Collectively, we bemoan the backwardness of "some" people before we move on, thinking of racism as isolated extremism.