Most colleges and universities can be considered a laboratory of diversity, and in some cases are the first and last times people have the opportunity to closely associate with people unlike themselves. Consider: many communities where kids grow up are homogenous (although that is changing). Depending on the type of work one chooses, the workplace can be homogenous.

The Bradley effect, (sometimes called the Wilder effect) is named after Tom Bradley, an African-American who lost the 1982 California governor’s race despite being ahead in voter polls going into the elections.

This is a bad sign. Perhaps for the first time in American history, some racial groups may actually be doing worse then their predecessors in terms of achieving a college education.

So, how racist are Americans, anyway? A pundit at the Princeton Election Consortium says that they're not racist enough to deny Obama the presidency.