What do you mean "He looks like me"?

One of the weirdest statements to come from the election of Barack Obama is the claim that African-Americans now have someone in the White House who looks like them. I understand the sentiment behind that statement but it also shows that we are still tied to the pre-Obama era. That statement reinforces what we all claim that the election of Barack Obama destroyed: It reduces African-Americans to the color of their skin. Before Barack Obama was elected there was always someone in the White House who looked like every other citizen of the United States. That can be stated another way, because before Barack Obama there never has been a President of the United States who looked like every other citizen of the United States.