Obama, Race and History

I will have plenty of time to evaluate Obama's proposed policies as they unfold, but I want to comment on the perceived and actual significance of the occasion.  Likely because I am too young to have lived through segregation and grew up in too liberal of a neighborhood to have witnessed real racism, I have trouble seeing the historic first as a particularly important thread in the narrative.  As I listened to CNN pundits point out that it was a monumental event and that we have transcended race and then proceed to discuss the event without reference to his politics, or any other substantive point, but instead focus on his race (or half of it), I couldn't help but remember a conversation I had with my mom when I first learned what affirmative action was. I was in 5th or 6th grade but the thrust of my question remains pretty clear in my memory: "I thought what race people are isn't supposed to matter?"  Commenter Cynical in CA on The Agitator put it nicely into libertarian terms:

Race is among the most pernicious forms of collectivism. Identification with race, whether as a member of or a detractor of, negates the individual. That is the essence of racism, of all collectivism — the negation of the individual. I heard A LOT of collectivist speech last night, qu’elle surprise.

The fact is, the variation within a given group is far larger than the variation between groups.  To say that his election represents a great leap forward for the African American community while many African Americans' face difficult circumstances they will find little improved today is frustrating.  It’s more frustrating still that 95% of African Americans voted for him despite his seeming willingness to continue rewarding a broken public education monopoly which limits their opportunities and to increase funding for a drug war which is incarcerating them for consensual crimes at draconian rates.

On a somewhat unrelated note, how is this for an unintended consequence?