"Racism's Over, RIght Guys?"

I know the title seems very odd, but just bear with me.
I've just been reading over a commentary article on CNN about how Obama has handled his presidency for this getting closer to November 4th, when he was elected president. I was intrigued at how much the race card has been played over the presidency over the past few months, usually surrounding the health care debate. Here's a few lines from the article:
" Rather than bringing people together, those who run Washington have demeaned Americans for participating in the debate! House Speaker Nancy Pelosi calls them un-American. The [resident dismisses their arguments as "bickering". Worst of all, the race card is being played in an attempt to shut down legitimate debate.

While I did not support Rep. Joe Wilson's decision to shout out during the president's address, I was appalled to hear him called a racist for daring to disagree with a black president. I know Joe Wilson. I had the privilege of visiting Iraq and Afghanistan with him. He is no racist."

Back when Obama was running for president, I was on a trip in D.C. with some friends. We got to talking about the election. Every other person in the group seemed to be supporting him. When they asked me who I was supporting, I gladly said "I'm supporting McCain."
To them it seemed to at that point I had put on some sort of Klan paraphernalia. They called me a racist, called me an idiot for supporting him, and said that I hated black people (the group talking to me was 50% black and 50% white).
It seems that many counter arguments from people de-evolved from talking about his "change" that he will bring (Hey guys, newsflash: Change does not always mean good change. Also any new president will bring some sort of change) into playing the race card. If you don't like Obama, you're racist. You don't like what he's doing? You're racist. Don't like his cabinet? You're racist. Don't support government run health care? You're even more racist.
It's 2009, people. This isn't the 70's, 60's, or the damned 50's. It's the 21st century. Hell, it's almost the 10's. I don't wanna sound racist, but don't you think racism has died away, and shouldn't truly be a reason for someone not supporting or liking something? We've elected a black president, we have blacks in many positions in the government and in important jobs. We're not the cross-burning, segregating redneck people that we were when it comes to race. We've become civilized people when it comes to that. And the fact that it becomes a shield behind which the Democrat party comfortably sits is appalling.

I might update this post a bit more tomorrow, it's 10:30 PM and I need some sleep.