Barack Obama claiming victory in the race for Democratic presidential nominee in the US, presents the golden opportunity for the world's most powerful nation to finally show the world that it's not a hot-bed of racism and division and that it truly is the land of the free.
Sadly, it probably won't.
And the person cheering hardest for Obama to win the nomination was probably Republican presidential nominee John McCain.
For while projections suggest that more than 50% of the US workforce will be non-white by 2050, that's probably just too far off to ensure that Obama becomes the first black president in the nation's history.
And while Obama could give himself a better chance of ousting the Republicans by making Hillary Clinton his running mate - thereby targeting both the non-white and the female communities of the US - the sad truth is that the same states that were in favour of Clinton as Democrat nominee will almost certainly vote for McCain. Because he is white.
Of course, in a truly free nation, people would vote for the best candidate, in the same way that employers always ought to employ the best candidate, regardless of their colour, race, religion, etc.
Yet such has been the focus on the fact that Obama is not white and the fact that Hillary is not a man, that irony will rule and the race for president will surely be a cake walk for McCain.
