Why is Separatism “Ok” for Some, & How It Relates to the Presidential Race

I’m registered to vote, I watched the debates, & I’ve seen all kinds of mud slung at all of the candidates simply for the purpose of seeing what sticks & what doesn’t (although much more has been thrown at McCain & Palin, I think we can all obviously agree, not that it matters, since the media has the right to choose their favorite candidate just like everyone else. Would be nice if we were presented with an equal view of simply the facts rather than the vile accusations & political cartoons thrown around of late I think.) Personally I still haven’t made up my mind on it all.
BUT:

Among the things I find most offensive?

Well lets see, I think the “Obama buck” was about the lowest blow they could strike. I mean come on, this is just plain tacky. Yet the McCain campaign had nothing to do with this, rather a radical (& apparantly ignorant) group of women who are claimingly comepletly out of date with modern stereotypes, and why they aren’t APPROPRIATE, especially used toward a man who could be the nations next president.

BUT…here’s something that got me thinking, its a quote by Diana West found here.

“Imagine that McCain had spent the last 20 years in the pews of a white supremacist church that supported… separationism from black people, and… that, until a few months ago, McCain had proudly claimed the church’s white racist pastor as his “friend, mentor and pastor” — even taking the title of his best-selling 2006 memoir from one of this man’s sermons. Imagine further that, in the 1990s, McCain had directed foundation funding toward a white-separatist educational program supported by this same pastor.”

Now, Obama has done all these things, though in reverse context of course.

It makes me wonder, why is this ok? Aren’t we over racism, and by racism I mean ANY kind of racism, i.e. hate of or segregation from, ANY peoples? So why is it ok to have a “Black students Organizations” like we do here at UTA, but it would be EXTREMELY offensive to start a philanthropic group and call it a “White Students Organization”. Why do we have a “National Alliance of Black School Educators”? Is it okay for no one to find that offensive, whereas, if we had a “National Alliance of White School Educators”, the press would run amuck! Why would we want to have either! Why can’t we just have a “Students organization”? Or a “National Alliance of Educators”, that every American can be a part of? And moreover, why should there be a double standard when we as Americans openly denounce such things and pride ourselves on being created equal?

More than thinking about this in the context of the presidential race, I’m thinking about this on the level of the every day people I come into contact with. If I wanted to go join the so called “Black Students organization” on campus, would I be allowed? If I were not, wouldn’t that be racial discrimination? And if by some chance, I showed up at a meeting, I can only imagine what kind of looks I would get on walking in the door.
This is supposed to be America the United, not America the Devided!

I’m not really criticizing Obama, but more asking why the entire nation seems to think this type of separatism is ok. The biggest question I have concerning Obama is why he won’t simply produce proof of citizenship (i.e. a birth certificate) to the man who has filed suit against him for not being a “natural born citizen” therefore not being eligible to run for president… I would think that he must have one, who’s dumb enough to try to run for the most important office in our country without one? But why then won’t he just come up with the proof. McCain did it, along with everyone else that ever ran for president. Strange.