It’s Crazy Super Tuesday and former long-time CBS anchor Dan Rather is setting up shop today at USC’s Annenberg School. He’s kicking off live coverage of the big day for his HDNET program, Dan Rather Reports. But before taking the stage tonight, he spoke to students about national politics and the news.

In addition to tossing out newsroom chestnuts (”Maintain your idealism” “Operating for a public journal is equal to operating in public service”), he discussed campaign coverage and, specifically, coverage of race relations. “Race is an ongoing problem in our time, it’s a deep and abiding problem, and it’s not really getting covered,” Rather said.

Is that true?

He explained that Obama’s not just another Al Sharpton or Jesse Jackson. He said that people are tired of identity politics and that Obama’s aversion to that sort of political game has served him well. Obama talks about race but not about racism. He has to continue striving to be a candidate for everyone and avoid the stereotype that has buried past black presidential hopefuls. Yet, Americans well know that race is an issue— in the campaign and in their lives, a continuing defining fact of our society. The media has reported at length about Obama’s being the first serious black presidential contender, but they have largely failed to dive into the impact a black president will have on, say, inner city schools. If Obama is elected president, racial dynamics in the country could change considerably, exploding images that have long been a part of American thought and history.

If what Rather says is true, and I think maybe it is, then it’s worth asking: Why have journalists shied away from writing about the implications of that kind of change and how it would be extended by an Obama presidency?

Tags: dan rather, journalism, race