Current poll numbers indicate Obama has a chance at winning the Democratic presidential nomination, and would be a serious contender in the November general election. Throughout his campaign, the senator has insisted that his race is irrelevant to his bid for the White House. Hoover Institution senior fellow and prize-winning author Shelby Steele disagrees. Steele says that despite Obama supporters" assertions that race does not matter, it is at the very core of his candidacy. "Obama"s campaign pretends to transcend race," Steele says, "but the paradox is that his campaign is all about race—and very little else."According to Steele, the United States has not eradicated the twin specters of racism and "white guilt" over slavery. Steele contends that, despite outward appearances of competence and prominence, most African-Americans who have found success in mainstream America—politicians in particular—have adopted one of two "masks": that of the bargainer or that of a challenger. Steele has declared Obama a "bargainer," someone who, to gain acceptance from whites, is willing to avoid addressing America"s history of racism. "Challengers," such as Jackson and Sharpton, obtain power by wielding racial stigma to elicit guilt from whites. The confrontational style of challengers, as evidenced by Jackson"s and Sharpton"s failed campaigns, tends to alienate most mainstream voters.Steele posits that adopting such masks prevents minorities from evolving an "individual self." Steele believes the major challenge facing minorities today is not to concede to predetermined racial roles but rather to "achieve visibility as an individual."Hoover senior fellow Victor Davis Hanson believes that politicians who continually dig up past recriminations to excuse or explain away their own arguably racist attitudes and behaviors are missing "yet another opportunity to talk honestly about race, to hold all Americans to the same standards of public ethics and morality, and to emphasize that no one gets a pass peddling vulgar racism."Likewise, Hoover senior fellow Thomas Sowell contends that politicians who allege racism and inequality to be the root cause for every perceived social injustice actually end up promoting division and hopelessness among their constituents. "Why," Sowell asks, "should young blacks be expected to work to meet educational standards, or even behavioral standards, if they believe the message that all their problems are caused by whites, that the deck is stacked against them" According to Shelby Steele, Obama"s campaign ______.

A. shows much respect to the blacks as a race
B. advocates anti-racism as his guideline
C. takes advantage of his being black
D. pretends to support anti-racism