Europe is a long way from producing an Obama, nevermind electing him

Trevor Phillips, the head of Britain's equality watchdog, has claimed a British Obama could never become prime minister because of the obstacles posed by "institutional racism". He misses the point entirely. The implicit suggestion that there is some British version of Obama lurking in the shadows, being impeded by racism, is off the mark. The reality is the structures of British society and culture prevent the creation of a British Obama.

Obama is a product of the United States. Only the US - I add the mandatory caveat that it has its problems of course - with its fluid racial and class structures could, not only facilitate Obama's rise, but allow for his very creation.

President-elect Obama is a uniquely American product that will not be effortlessly replicated elsewhere. This notion that there are European Obama's being held back is belied by the fact that they do not seem to exist at all.

A lot of societal change would have to occur before such a character could arrive on the British political scene. That unfortunate reality rings true for every European country. However, as always, what happens in the US slowly makes its way over the Atlantic waves - if Obama teaches European minorities anything, it is that they too will have their day. However, a whole lot more will have to change in the meantime.