I am old enough to remember two defining political events: Nixon's resignation in the last years of the Vietnam War, and The Flip Wilson Show. As a tenth-grader with delusions of anarchy I bore witness to mass moral ambiguities and saw hypocrisy exposed. I also recognized the aesthetic value of well-formed black gams setting off a pink mini-dress.

The Flip Wilson Show ruled. It was brilliant and ahead of its time. In the above clip, with guest Mohammed Ali we get a glimpse of what Barack Obama may have looked like in 1974--The shining presence, strong aura. The winning yet unsure stance when Geraldine requests he go easy on Joe Fraser because "He's one of us."

With the name "Negron," I consider myself an expert on race relations. You see, the name Negron is 5/6th of the "N" word, which is why Barack mentioning the elephant in the room was so important to me.

We are still burdened by issues of race and class that should have been put to rest decades ago. We have not healed the racial wounds in this country; we've merely applied bandage over bandage, and some of us are just plain keloid and may never heal.
True healing occurs when we open our minds to the experiences and the daily truths of others.

Because of my last name, I was called the "N" word in grade school in the perfumed hills of Pasadena. To this day I remember the tone of the word. I was confused, ashamed. I felt heat in my veins. When I told my father, he confessed that this too happened to him in grade school back in the Bronx. "It comes with being a Negron," he told me reassuringly.

Now, in the formative years of the twenty-first century, we may not like hearing the ramblings of a crotchety Reverend or, as Maureen Dowd referred to Wright, "a wack-a-doo minister." But we should not disregard the validity in his words, however "wacky" or caustic, until we have honored his reality. I haven't been referred to as the "N" word since the 80s, but other people have, to their faces and to their backs.

Good for Senator Obama--mentioning the elephants. We have a tendency to ignore them, to our peril. You see, as a person raised in a family of elephants-- Black, White, Pink-- I can assure you: Elephants never forget...