young gifted and black. is where it's at.

To play the clip, first turn off the music player in the right hand margin below.

So, yeah, I don't like it when they call Barack Obama elitist. I have an especially hard time with Hillary Clinton doing it. I think it's a cheap shot. And I think it's racist.

When Condeleezza Rice first started working for president Bush as his National Security Advisor she talked about how people would come up to her and tell her that her "parents must be proud". She would respond that as a third generation college educated woman, she was supposed to be where she was.

Standards, and expectations, do differ depending on color.

You don't throw the word 'elitist' in the face of someone who traditionally belongs to the elite. You throw the word 'elitist' it in the face of someone who is challenging you.

I met a young woman yesterday who I knew a little in her first year of college but haven't met since. She is a senior now, and she is graduating next month.

We were on a committee together. There was one staff person, one faculty person (me), and this young woman as a student representative.

I was completely impressed by her. Smart complex observations, confidence, commitment.

The young woman is Mexican American and initially she had a hard time adjusting to a predominantly white, private, college campus. But she did, and she has done very well.

Those who don't belong to the traditional elite face particular challenges when entering higher education. The young woman I met yesterday overcame those challenges. So did Barack Obama. They, and every other person in that same situation, learn lessons that many white students don't.

If Barack Obama would publicly address how he feels when they call him elitist, we'd learn a lot.