Sometimes when I run into an African-American man over the age of twenty, I have a knee-jerk reaction to talk about the basketball game last night. It’s a stupid urge, rooted in my own excitement and the racial stereotype that all black people like basketball.

In light of this and in fear of engaging in the “fear of hope,” or what “The Daily Show” calls “Baracknophobia,” I’d like to steer clear of speculating on whether Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama enjoys shooting hoops.

If we can be certain about one thing this election, it’s that you don’t mess with the Obama. While Obama isn’t a Mossad secret agent with a thick Israeli accent (an unconfirmed rumor), the Democratic presidential candidate has suffered a wave of race-based attacks.

During a Fox News segment about conservative attacks on Obama’s wife, the graphic on the bottom of the screen read “Outraged liberals: Stop picking on Obama’s baby mama!” As other networks noted, baby mama is an urban slang for an unmarried mother. This myth was quickly busted, since Obama is happily married to his, ahem, babies’ mother.

“The Sock Obama” was meant to be a cuddly presidential toy, made after an “affectionate.and charming association between a candidate” and a sock monkey. Instead, many thought the monkey with black hair, a suit, and big red lips made a horrible comparison of African ancestry to primates. The anti-monkey-slander Obama squad was quick to deflate the toy, prepared by a Curious George (in T-shirt form) whack at the senator earlier this year.

A Fox News anchor took her own jab when she suggested that an on-stage celebratory fist pound Obama shared with his wife could be a “terrorist fist jab.” The segment dissected what the fist “thump” may have meant. A body language expert said the fist “pump” may be akin to how her husband squeezes her hand three times to say “I love you,” and she squeezes back four times to dispatch an undisclosed message. She added with a wink that young people are going to like the Obama’s “kind of representing a little bit.”

While the baby mama, sock monkey, and fist thump/pump/jab/pound may not have been intentional racist attacks, they are all obvious examples of poor judgment given the colorful political climate. But as November nears with the possibility of our first black president, we’ll be faced with stories that aren’t as clear cut. It’ll be our choice to decide whether to blow the race-whistle or not.

On a side note, it turns out that the flashy, free-wheeling ball player, nicknamed “Obomber” for his jump shot, felt that while shooting hoops he made his closest white friends “on turf where blackness couldn’t be a disadvantage.”

Oh. So Obama does like basketball.

With five months left on this election game clock, there may be hope for a buzzer-beating shot to send Obama off the bench and into the White. (whistle) I’ll stop with the basketball references.

Sujay is a senior in biochemistry and wants to stress that “Obomber” does not = terrorism. Go Celtics.