THE EDITOR, Sir:

BarACk Obama, if elected, will make a good president of the United States. This has nothing to do with the colour of his skin. The TV coverage I have seen of him has convinced me that he is highly intelligent, very articulate and a person of unimpeachable integrity. Otherwise, the anti-Obama press would have ripped him to shreds.

That a person of colour could get the most powerful job in the world is significant. As a black man myself, I have been fed a steady diet of negative images about myself. Hollywood has been a perpetrator of this. In the movies, the black man dies first, or is injured and has to be helped along by some white folk. Or the black man is a blathering hysteric. We do have some excellent black actors who get positive roles but the imbalance is not tipped in their favour.

And we all know that 'black' is bad and 'white' is good.

Little expectations

It is so easy not to disappoint when very little is expected of you. Very little is expected of black people and black countries. Look at the mess Africa is in, look at Haiti, look even at Jamaica. Thank God for our athletes! We can look up at them on the billboards and not notice the potholes. So having a black man as president of he US does something for people of colour. Maybe some leaders in Africa will be convinced that you do not have to be a money-grabbing, pocket-stuffing dictator who puts his tribe ahead of the country's interests. Maybe we will, one day, have the United States of Africa which will be a First-World continent in its entirety.

Black Republicans and other conservatives who are worried about Obama's liberal agenda need to understand that issues like abortion and homosexuality pale into insignificance when compared with the positive effect his election will have on the black psyche. Those are legal issues which can be reversed by a conservative government. Let's deal with the more important issue. No government is likely to be able to stop either abortion or homosexuality in the short run. These issues are like bad products being heavily advertised, and we know what happens when you advertise a bad product.

Vote for Obama

So, my Caribbean American and African-American brethren, vote for Obama, whether you are Republican or not, whether you are conservative or not.

It is my opinion that George W. Bush, despite his shortcomings, helped prepare the way for a black president. It was he who elevated Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice to positions of great responsibility based solely on their competence. Did your hearts not swell with pride when they stood at the rostrum and spoke on behalf of the great United States? With their black faces? Like John the Baptist, they prepared the way. Rise up, you mighty race!

I am, etc.,

CAPT JOHN RICHARDS

Stony Hill

St Andrew