This LA Times article by Shelby Steele is the most insightful article on the election that you can read. Read it!
But there is an inherent contradiction in all this. When whites —
especially today’s younger generation — proudly support Obama for his
post-racialism, they unwittingly embrace race as their primary
motivation. They think and act racially, not post-racially. The point
is that a post-racial society is a bargainer’s [Obama is a bargainer] ploy: It seduces whites
with a vision of their racial innocence precisely to coerce them into
acting out of a racial motivation. A real post-racialist could not be
bargained with and would not care about displaying or documenting his
racial innocence. Such a person would evaluate Obama politically rather
than culturally.