Obama’s moment: Key point in U.S. history

A majority of Americans said the country was ready for a black president, but that was far from making it reality.

"The fact is that there were no African-Americans who were in a position to run for president at that time so what people would say was really pretty irrelevant," said David Bositis of the Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies, a think tank focused on issues important to black Americans.

Voters did not really begin to contemplate the idea of a black president as anything beyond an abstract until the 1990s when Gen. Colin Powell, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff during the Gulf War, gained wide admiration.

Now, the irony of Obama's achievement is that much of what it represents is not about the color of his skin.

Obama, at 46 too young to remember the civil rights era, has run a race that, at least when possible, has been deliberately not about race.

He steered clear of a campaign like Jesse Jackson's, which shaped itself as a fight for the rights of minorities and the poor. Instead, he promised an era of change, an idea that found broad support among different groups of voters. He excluded many of the civil rights leaders and others — from Jackson to Al Sharpton — who would have defined him as a black candidate.

He spoke about himself not primarily as a black man, but as a man whose story was uniquely American.

"Was it about race? No, it was about electability," Walters said. "The racial aspect of his agenda is missing, the racial politics are missing. So really all you have left is the symbol of the person."

Of cultural significance
The result is a prospective nominee whose candidacy is weighted with the possibility of cultural significance, but maybe not in the way that might have been imagined. It is less a testament to rising black political fortunes than to the power of a fast-changing social dynamic.

In the ranks of black politics, the baton is being passed from leaders rooted in the fight for civil rights and social activism to a new group of young, educated and energized politicians with their own point of view.

At the same time, the nation's electorate is less strictly defined by black and white. That is partly the result of immigration and the growth of other groups of voters. But it is also a sign of assimilation, intermarriage and the arrival of younger voters with different sensibilities.

"America is in the midst of a significant demographic shift and Barack Obama in his person represents a significant element of that shift," Davis says.

Speaking to a new generation
Today's teens have much more experience with people of other races or mixed races than did their parents. While Obama's story doesn't reflect the typical African-American experience, it does speak to this new generation that is less polarized by race — tomorrow's voters, Bositis says.

His candidacy should act as a signal to these voters, whether they're young black men or young white women, that people like them can dream, realistically, about being president, observers say.

Politics is a lagging indicator of that shift. But Obama's message of change taps into it.

"People are thirsting for a new face, a new voice and he's set to go," Walters says.

The Obama candidacy reflects a country that is at, or at least near, the point where a generation that has long held on to power must cede the spotlight.

But the general election campaign to come is likely to remind us that the nation, despite its maturation, remains conflicted about race.

"Race is so tender and temperamental an issue in U.S. society and politics," Davis said. "It won't be a major issue overtly, but under the covers it's going to be an issue, absolutely."

Putting it to the test
In recent polls, about three of every four voters said the country is ready for a black president. Obama's nomination offers the first chance to put that assertion to the test.

Many black voters remain skeptical. Significantly fewer of them say they believe the country is ready. Their doubts are a reminder that Obama's claim to the nomination, while a milestone, does not resolve the country's long entanglement with racialized politics.

It reminds Walters of a day, 50 years ago, when he led the nation's first sit-in demonstration at the whites-only Dockum Drugstore lunch counter in his hometown of Wichita, Kan. Back then, the prospect of a black president was unimaginable.

Now, with Obama one step away, "it's tremendous pride in the fact that this is occurring," he says. But that pride is tempered by "a sense of realism and caution about what can be achieved."

More from msnbc.com First Read: Around the world in eight days First Read: Palin tour takes page from campaign Field Notes: Inside one of America's largest warships Vicarious thrill: He wants her to be hit on Stimulus tracker: See where millions of dollars went On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM

Section Front

Obama campaign head gets big book deal Officials turn down Franken request Joe the Plumber to become war correspondent Franken lead at 49 with absentees left to count Minn. Senate winner won't be known in 2008 First Read: 'Twas the seventh week of recount... Franken opens first lead in Minn. Senate race Mom of Palin daughter's boyfriend arrested Minn. court weighs rejected absentee ballots Minnesota panel reviews disputed ballots Section Front   Add headlines to your news reader: