It’s hard to be politically correct when talking about race and politics; any race involved in the discussion tries to ever-so-lightly approach the line of racism without crossing it. But these tame individuals are the catalyst to these same prodding questions about why blacks are more inclined to vote for President Barack Obama are surfacing yet again – a renewed dialogue I am far from excited about. I understand the historical gravity of a black man being in the very White House, but these questions are not being asked to the opposing end.

While most would consider the answer of why this is being moderately racist to suggest that a demographic would vote for a candidate on the basis of solely his race, this current political climate warrants inquiries on this basis. Never in our political history have we been faced with the option of voting for a candidate of a race other than white until 2008. Ever since, media and political analysts have had to call into question a kind of discourse we have never had to consider. Are we all pre-disposed to favor candidates based on race during this recent election solely because the option to do so is here? This line of questioning suggests that voting has become a segregation conspiracy to return the White House to its roots. There are more complicated matters at hand in lieu of this elections’ importance, and priorities should not lie in race but it does because that is the reality of America – we are not a post-racial society that is capable of looking past race even when we should.

The question should really focus not on the black community, or any minority for that matter, voting for Barack because he is black. I think there isn’t anything fundamentally wrong with voting for someone who has shown no shame in representing and serving demographics that have been historically neglected by our political system. Whether that be women, Latinos or youth, President Obama has made it evident and clear through the majority of his policies that he has a vested interest in repairing areas of our country that are suffering on account of our political system prioritizing funneling their benefits to the upper class. Now this upper class is largely comprised of white men, the same description of the kind of president that has been in office consecutively for centuries. Naturally, questions shouldn’t be directed toward why the minority is voting for the minority based on race, but why the majority might be voting for the majority for the same reason.

It’s a troubling thought to even suggest that there are voters out there who plan to vote for Governor Mitt Romney on the basis of wanting to keep the White House white. Forgive me for the cliché but there is truly no better explanation that only pales in comparison to the shirts and posters plastered with ‘Don’t Re-Nig’ monikers at the Republican convention. The absurdity of it all reeks of civil rights era bigotries that in no way suggests that the white demographic is soaring above and beyond using race as a factor in this year’s election.

This election and Obama’s presidency has introduced a much needed revelation in our societies desperate need to re-evaluate how we use race in our daily lives. The nature of how race plays a role in a person’s decision making at any capacity is the ultimate conversation at hand: do we use race as a determinate in encouraging our inner bigot by allowing stereotypes to influence our opinion of an entire race, or are we using race as a gateway to much needed change in a virtually separate but diverse society? Ultimately, the choice is up to us, you and the Electoral College.