In fact, they're outraged that anyone could think that of them. You see, they intellectually know racism is bad, and they like to think of themselves as decent people (which they very often are). But deep down inside, that seed is planted, and no matter how much its suppressed, it tends to germinate when least expected. I've recognized it in me, that's why I can speak about it.

These hidden racists can vote for a black man, they can marry someone of another race, they can even adopt children of a different race, but that bias is always there. And whenever they meet someone of that race who is bad, or disappointing, or an enemy, there is the moment of "Aha, I knew it all along!"

Racism is everywhere, its a human condition. Blacks can be racists, Liberals can be racist, some people even harbor an unconscious racism against their own race! But its there, to some degree or another, in most, if not all, of us.

I know this, but I can't explain it to anyone who doesn't know this, so I normally don't even try. But I do know this, American Conservatism is racist. Yes, I know that there are black Conservatives, I know that there are racially progressive Conservatives. I know that there are Conservatives who are sincerely and genuinely outraged by people calling them racists.

But if you study Conservatives intensely, if you look closely, no matter what issue or policy you pick as an identifier, the place where all the circles in the Venn diagram intersect is always race.

How can I justify this conclusion? I can't, not logically, so I don't even try. But I was born and raised in the South, and I've lived all my life there. I am a 'person of color' myself. I am bicultural and bilingual and I have faced these issues all my life. So I know this.

I liked Obama too. But not because he was black. I liked him because he acted white. He was smart, articulate, intelligent, educated.....'cool'. He came across like he was white. His being "a brown-eyed-handsome man" was just the way I congratulated myself for being so un-racist.

So I know this. Trust me.