Some perspective on the Powell endorsement
Already there are a lot of people out there, including Rush Limbaugh, (who seems to be leading the charge, so to speak) that General Powell made this endorsement on the sole basis that both he and Senator Obama are black. Although Powell made a pretty detailed argument of how he thinks the Republican party has gone astray, and how McCain is running an awful campaign, Rush and Pat Buchanan and George Will and a heap of other conservatives are all pointing to the race issue as the reason, essentially ignoring virtually everything that Powell actually said. To them, it HAS to be based on race. So, there couldn't possibly be any other logical explanation, huh guys? Really? Has Powell endorsed every other black Presidential candidate that ran in the last 20 years? Did he endorse Alan Keyes in 2000? Did he endorse Al Sharpton in 2004? There has been a black man running for President (at least in the primaries) every election for at least the last 6 or 7 elections. How many did he endorse before? None. Zero.
Now, Powell DID endorse a white conservative guy with little experience not too long ago. That guy was named George W. Bush. Powell served in his cabinet for 4 years, despite being constantly undermined by both Vice President Cheney and Secretary of Defense Rumsfeld. But he stayed on. He even threw away his credibility on that whole Iraqi WMD debacle in front of the United Nations, largely because he felt like he owed a certain amount of loyalty to the President, so he should just do his job and being a good soldier. And now that he finally feels free to speak his mind, and offer an impassioned argument on how the Republican party has let him down, how does most of the Republican party respond? Like this.
Now, to go on to your other observations. The article you quoted is not really racist (you said racial? not sure what you meant) because all it does is point out that yes, Obama is black, and yes, Powell is black, but the very next sentence after your quote puts it in context, saying that Powell is aware of those circumstances but that did not affect his decision. That is my interpretation for whatever it's worth.
Also, when it comes to racial epithets and such, it is generally considered acceptable (or at least more acceptable than otherwise) if an epithet is used by a minority to describe itself, rather than the majority or another ethnic group or whatever. For example, among my gay friends calling each other "dyke" or "faggot" is sort of a playful joke, because no one really means it that way. It is not intended to be an insult. It is not intended to wound because its use by someone within the group sort of negates the connotation of the word being used to differentiate someone as an "other". Some sociologists call it an effort to "reclaim" the word, to take away some of its power. I would imagine that the use of the word "nigger" by many black musicians, comedians, and others in the community is similar in some respects. That being said, it is still a highly inflammatory word, even among many African Americans. It will never really be considered an acceptable word. And its use by any white person is considered highly inflammatory, because its historical context was always in that particular role - as a derogatory term that a white man used for a black man.
A black person calling another black person "too white" or "acting white" or similar terms is also generally highly offensive, mostly because it implies a certain abandonment of black culture and behavior on the part of the person so called. It means that the black person has adopted the mannerisms, speech patterns, and general behaviors of white culture. At least that has certainly been its historical use, and from what I have gathered it is still considered that way. And actually, "Uncle Tom" has a related but very different connotation. That term is used to describe someone who debases himself in order to curry favor with whites. So those two terms are not exclusive, but neither are they exactly the same.
There is no secret message manual, buddy. The only secret messages are the ones that are around us all the time but we normally tune out. You just have to learn to start paying attention to them.
