At the Columbia Journalism Review, Lester Feder quotes from Rev. Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I have a dream” speech…

[M]any of our white brothers, as evidenced by their presence here today, have come to realize that their destiny is tied up with our destiny. And they have come to realize that their freedom is inextricably bound to our freedom.

…before remarking on McCain’s line:

I was surprised at the distancing rhetoric—“the special pride that must be theirs”? … Regardless of race — or, for that matter, party — all Americans are better off when unjust barriers to opportunity fall.

Tom D’Antoni at Huffington Post agrees:

[P]igeonholing him as the “black” candidate … overlooks the fact that’s he’s a once-in-a-generation leader who has stirred the admiration of people of all races around the world with his eloquence, intelligence and vision for change.

Indeed, writes Winston Kaehler in a letter to the editor of the St. Paul Pioneer Press:

Constantly dwelling on the importance, symbolic or otherwise, of Barack Obama being the first African-American elected president discounts his other remarkable attributes — character, ability, intelligence and achievements. We should pay more attention to the broad range of reasons that we are fortunate to have him as our next president.