On April 3 Robert Bender wrote, “If a poor black kid can become president, then racism is not a barrier to anyone.”

This sentence makes me sad, not only because it is false, not only because it is naïve, but also because it takes away the legitimacy of the voices of people of color who experience racism.

Racism is not a barrier to anyone anymore? That might be news to people of color who lack access to health care, to educational opportunities or to fair treatment by the justice system. And that sentence offers justification to whites for ignoring or minimizing the racism experienced by people of color. That, by the way, is racist.

If a Mexican-American were elected president, would that be a magic fix ending the exploitation of Mexican day laborers? No. If a woman were elected president, would that be a magic fix ending rape and sexual harassment? No.

Electing a black man president is something of which all Americans can be proud. Thinking that Obama’s election erases the social effects of 400 years of racism and changes the hearts and minds of all whites in the U.S. amounts to believing in magic.

Presuming that racism is not a barrier to anyone is both factually and ethically wrong.