And personally, I and the other contributors to this site won’t be “carried over to the voting booth upon a guilt trip” because we’re British. So we can’t vote.

I think I can safely say that my admiration and support for Barack Obama is not led by his skin colour. Certainly, his has achieved great things as a black man, and therefore a member of an oppressed group - there is no denying that, and I am fascinated to learn his own thoughts and explorations on the issue of race in his book Dreams From My Father, which I’m currently reading.

No, my admiration and support for Barack Obama come from the fact that he is clearly a supremely intelligent, brilliant, thoughtful, compassionate, talented, caring and liberal man. And if he was white and had all those qualities I’d love him - and want him in the White House - just the same.

Racism comes in many forms, and there is a significant possibility that your sponsorship of Senator Obama is really an obsessive compulsion to prove to yourself, and to others, that you are not a racist. Have you looked within yourself and examined your motives?

Sure, we can turn it all into a joke, like some have: an Obama lawn-sign is the yuppy status-symbol du jour; a hip and shiny accessory, this season’s iPhone. “But dear, every Volvo in the Whole Foods parking lot has an Obama sticker on it!”—that’s yet another parody of White property-owning affluence as described by stuffwhitepeoplelike.com

Have you really considered why you are so fixated by Senator Obama? How important was the pigmentation of Obama’s skin in spurring your interest? Do you really believe that he, or anyone else for that matter, is more qualified to run for the presidency than Senator Hillary Clinton? C’mon, let’s be honest with ourselves; that’s the first step in the healing process.

Isn’t making a big deal out of Obama’s skin color just another form of racism?

Unfortunately, Senator Obama and his team have approached this question in a very cynical way. Can anyone really brand former President Bill Clinton a racist? After all he had done for Black people? Well, the Obama campaign did. Can anyone accuse the Rev. Jesse Jackson of being a racist against Blacks? The Obama campaign almost did.

You should be absolutely certain that you are not being carried over to the voting booth upon a guilt trip. You should take this opportunity to look deeply within yourself and ask, “Why did I fall for Obama? Why am I, after all that we have accomplished on racial issues, still feeling guilty? Am I an unconscious racist? Am I any better than those who pretend not to stare at an inter-racial couple?”

I’m sorry to tell you that voting for Obama does not absolve you of racism, it may even confirm it. You may be besotted by Obama because he’s the least-black, half-Black politician out there. Did you catch yourself thinking that Obama is remarkably “clean” and “articulate,” as Senator Joe Biden condescendingly said?

I beg you to visit http://www.instituteforhealingracism.org, and allow the healing process to begin. Cleanse your soul of the last vestiges of racism, and come over to a better world of hope, understanding and self-awareness.