I think I’ve yet to read a piece of commentary on Barack Obama’s victory in South Carolina that hasn’t mentioned the proportion of black voters who went with Obama. Moreover there were very few pieces of commentary prior to the primary that failed to mention the proportion of the South Carolina electorate that is black. My point? By focusing on the issue of race the British press feeds the stereotype of the US as a racist country, one where a black voter is more likely to vote for a candidate simply because they’re black (and conversely a country where white voters are less likely to vote for a candidate simply because they’re black).

Of course, like many stereotypes, this one isn’t very helpful. Are there people in the US who won’t vote for Obama because he’s black? Undoubtedly. Just as there are voters in the UK who wouldn’t vote for a black candidate.

But to read the British press you would think the issue of black vs white was a real issue for large numbers of Americans. Well, shock horror, it’s not. America is a lot of things, and certainly it’s a country that, in my opinion, is a touch too sensitive about issues of race, but it’s not a racist country.

For what it’s worth, if I had a vote in South Carolina I would have used it to vote Stephen Colbert (but sadly he didn’t get on the ballot). He did however interview Debra Dickerson from MotherJones.com about South Carolina’s Democratic primary: