It's funny... As a child I was taught that race means nothing, that a person should be judged by their own merits. So in some way, to me, the fact that his race is even mentioned is, in part, racist. And because the article is titled "Steele becomes first African-American RNC chairman" (emphasis mine), it smells of the RNC trying to 'keep up with the joneses' and prove themselvse now that the democrats have a black president.
*shrug*
Doesn't matter to me either way. Just presenting a different viewpoint.