A black man does no fully know what is like to be Chinese in America. A white man does no know what is like to be black. A latino does not know what is like to be bi-racial.
It is just the way it is. It is a reality.
Please enlighten me on a few things.
How is the pain that a young black man feels when his father abandons his family different from the pain that I felt as a young white man when my father abandoned his family?
How is the shame that a black man feels when he is attacked, outnumbered and beaten any different that the shame that I felt as a young white man when I was beaten?
How is the violence and culture of despair of a young black man who joins a gang different from the violence and culture of despair that I felt as a young white man who joined a gang?
How are the tears shed by a black man over the body of his murdered brother different from the tears that I shed as a white man over the body of my murdered brother?
How is the sense of utter pointlessless and despair felt by a young black man when his brother decides that life is too hard and blows his brains out under a tree in a park different from the sense of utter pointlessness and despair that I felt when my brother blew his brains out?
What is the difference between a black man working two jobs and going to school to get a college degree and my working two jobs and going to school (in Newark, NJ) to get a college degree?
You claim that I cannot understand what it is to be a black man because I am white. I offer the counter-claim that my life experiences make me far better to understand the life experiences of most poor blacks than the life experiences of Barack Obama prepared him to understand what most black men in America have experienced.