Reflecting on Race Barack Obama's election as the first black
president of the United States emphasized the country's ability
to overcome deeply embedded racism ... but also brought out the
very worst in grown-ups and kids who were outraged at the
historic outcome. Before the election and in the weeks after
Nov. 4, hundreds of hate crimes cropped up nationwide as racism
reared its ugly head. That the United States - the great
"melting pot" of the world - saw a racially motivated backlash
wasn't necessarily a surprise but it was often shocking. Obama
likenesses hung by nooses from trees. Spray-painted racial slurs
surfaced near college campuses. And Obama has the distinction of
receiving more death threats than any other president-elect in
history (he gave his acceptance speech and took the stage with
his family standing behind a wall of bulletproof glass). The
reality of a black president has riled white supremacists and
those who've been raised in generation after generation of
bigotry. As kids around the co