Unless the one-drop rule still applies, our president-elect is not black. We call him that — he calls himself that — because we use dated language and logic. After more than 300 years and much difficult history, we hew to the old racist rule: Part-black is all black. Fifty percent equals a hundred. There's no in-between… To me, as to increasing numbers of mixed-race people, Barack Obama is not our first black president. He is our first biracial, bicultural president. He is more than the personification of African American achievement. He is a bridge between races, a living symbol of tolerance, a signal that strict racial categories must go.

-Washington Post editor Marie Arana, who today took comments from fans and critics here

Here, on Election Day eve, we have a new winner for stupidest Sarah Palin answer to a direct and reasonable question. Responding to a black supporter who asked about why he was the only minority at a particular Indiana rally, Palin responded, "We've got to be all about equality, the Constitution preaches," before noting that her husband, Todd, himself part Eskimo, can totally understand the plight of black Republicans. Good. God. This. Woman.

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You might remember that last year, the company that owns Uncle Ben's rice woke up from a long, long sleep and realized that perhaps the image of Uncle Ben wasn't so appropriate for the year 2007. The turned him into Chairman Ben, a CEO. Aunt Jemima is still Aunt Jemima, but she got to take off the Mammy gear and get a nice press n' curl. Both of these makeovers are very superficial answers to the much deeper historical problem associated with these two food brands, but clearly the companies are not willing to change the names of their cash cows. Aunt Jemima and Uncle (the "Chairman" is silent) Ben are here to stay. Many of their cohorts from the land of racist advertising imagery were not blessed with the same longevity.

Comics? Check. Coupons? Check. Parade? Check. Magazine on racial and ethnic issues in the U.S.? Starting this Sunday, check. Along with the cheesy Parade and the piles of paper-wasting inserts from Best Buy and Wal-Mart, many Sunday paper readers will find Rise Up, a Kansas-City-based weekly magazine that purports to "celebrate race and ethnicity and help us better understand our differences, celebrate our commonalities and build a great foundation to bridge the gaps that divide us." And, if it comes sandwiched between the latest Dilbert comic and a Parade cover story about Valerie Bertinelli's battle to overcome her coke addiction, it might actually force people to notice or talk about things they spend a lot of time not trying to notice or talk about.

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Rev. Jeremiah Wright and his "God Damn America" had, and still has, the potential to crush Barack Obama's historic candidacy. The dire situation is apparent to everyone, and it was the desire to stem the controversy that inspired Obama to give a speech on race and politics today. I wondered how he was going to do it. Because I know — and you know — the way black people, especially older black people, talk about white people and America in the company of other blacks. It's something that white people, particularly those who don't know many blacks, either don't understand or don't want to understand. And, because Barack Obama has made the decision to condemn Wright's opinions but not the actual man, it was something that Obama had to explain. I think he was successful. The speech was honest and as real as it could have been, given that we're talking politics here. I certainly have never heard a politician speak about race in such a real, meaningful way. Not in a blind "can't-we-all-just-get-along" way, but in a way that really inspires people to think hard about where hate and resentment comes from and to at least start trying to move past it.

Wright was the inspiration, but in the speech he transcended that one issue. By using Trinity Church and Wright as symbols of a black community that he loves dearly but disagrees with, he attempted to show that he could separate the opinions from the person and that people like Wright feel the way they do for a good reason.

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Barack Obama is set to make a speech today that some are saying will be the most important speech of his career. Like Mitt Romney's speech about Mormonism, which was modeled after John F. Kennedy's address about Catholicism in 1960, Barack Obama plans to speak in Philly today about a thing lots of Americans are confused about — racial issues, and how they play out in politics, at home, and most importantly (for right now), at church. While some advisers told him not to give the speech, others said that race is on the table now and needs to be discussed. So stay tuned…

• A group of political scientists examined 27 college-level poli-sci textbooks and found that they coverage of blacks was usually limited to a chapter on the Civil Rights movement. [IHE]

• Obama tells black supporters not to be mad at the Clinton's attacks — consider them a compliment to him. [SGVT]

• A West Virginia community service club doesn't allow blacks? How quaint. [TWV]

• DMC lobbied NJ lawmakers yesterday for adoptee rights. [ND]

• Once you get past Masta Killa's name, he's really quite a softy. PETA has named him the world's most animal-friendly rapper. [AHH]

A lot of people came to Tiger Woods' defense recently for his use of "Cablinasian" to define his racial makeup. I make fun of it, but I honestly don't care what Tiger Woods calls himself. Others said that calling yourself Cablinasian is one thing, but deliberately downplaying or outright ignoring the part of you that's black is another. Now that his camp has released a statement that totally blows off Kelly Tilghman's controversial quip about Tiger Woods getting lynched in a back alley, that latter group's argument just got stronger.

Mark Steinberg, Woods' agent, issued a statement declaring the uproar regarding lynching and the first black golfer to win a major title was not a major concern.

"This story is a non-issue," Steinberg said. "Tiger and Kelly are friends and Tiger has a great deal of respect for Kelly. Regardless of the choice of words used we know unequivocally that there was no ill-intent in her comments.

"This story is a non-issue in our eyes. Case closed."

Maybe you have to be more in touch with your "bl" side to understand that lynching jokes aren't really appropriate. [AFB]

No Bradley Effect here, ladies and gents. Be honest!

• Beyonce won the appeal in her copyright infringement case. She also supposedly got married to Jay-Z at Giorgio Armani's house. Whatever. [EUR]

• St. Louis firefighters, the white ones, I mean, say that a stuffed monkey, which was found by a black firefighter, hanging from its neck at the firehouse was just ringing out to dry after being found at the scene of a fire. Hmmm. [NYT]

• Along with this story, whose headline reads "Does Obama's Win Show US Is Colorblind," I received about 10 links in my inbox this morning about whether the man's "blackness" is at an appropriate level. So I guess that answers that question. [NW]

• T.I. and Tiny are having a baby that probably won't really get to know its dad until its in elementary school. [People]

• Blacks and Jews in NYC need to band together to stop hate crimes, say community leaders. [NYDN]

In real life, that colored puzzle piece has an afro or dreads. [TS, Things of Max]

According to the Cleveland Plain-Dealer, more black people "appear" to be adopting white children. This basically means that they have no idea whether or not this is a growing trend but wanted to write about it anyway.

But it does happen, and often for specific reasons — white children are sometimes adopted into black families based on a bond that developed during foster care, which is very understandable, or because an older child requested a black family. It is still far more common for white people to adopt black children, maybe because there are so many adoptable black children (they make up 78 percent of the adoption pool in Cleveland). This brings me to my next point — as a black woman, barring the foster-child circumstance or if the white child was born to someone I know and love, choosing to adopt a white child when I know how much higher in demand they are than black children is unimaginable to me.

The article suggests that these sorts of adoptions are usually circumstantial, and that blacks rarely request white children. If it ever really becomes a growing trend for black people to pass over a huge, largely unwanted black pool of adoption-ready black kids and pick the white kid instead, then my faith in our community will definitely be shaken.