Opinion - Cynthia Tucker

To: Barack Obama

Would a Barack Obama presidency close the racial divide in America? Would a President Obama "transcend" race? Would the election of a black man as president limit claims of racial victimization by black Americans or acts of racism by white Americans?

Perhaps you remember the dust-up several weeks ago when Barack Obama, speaking at a town hall meeting in suburban Atlanta, suggested that parents should urge their children to learn foreign languages. Xenophobic commentators and GOP activists immediately took to the stump to denounce Obama for elitism, insufficient nationalism and a tendency to coddle foreigners.