The African American vote has long been considered the exclusive property of the Democratic Party. But PNS commentator Chauncey Bailey -- who voted for a Republican for the first time on November 3 -- thinks it may be time to start crossing some of the lines that divide us. Bailey is news director at KSBT -TV Soul Beat in Oakland.

"There are still barriers to fall," Matt Fong said during his concession speech as he thanked supporters following his defeat by U.S. Senator Barbara Boxer.

Indeed.

I did my part in trying to chip away at that Great Wall of America. My friends are wondering why I, an African American, voted for Fong, a (hold your breath) Republican. I wonder why they wonder.

Yes, African Americans rarely vote for Republicans and for good reason. It was a first for me. But Fong, in my view, is a rarity. He is an Asian American at a time when we need racial diversity in that Congressional White Caucus, also known as the U.S. Senate.

Fong didn't get many black votes. But during a pre-election discussion on Soul Beat TV in Oakland, I was pleased to hear that other blacks on a panel did not have a problems supporting Fong. The same was true for some African-American callers.

At a time when African Americans are only 1 percent of all the nation's elected officials, what's wrong with backing another person of color? What's wrong with trying to advance the prospects of a person of color winning a statewide office in the biggest state in the nation?

It's time to stop talking about the need and do the deed.

While most Asian voters supported Boxer, those who backed Fong should not feel guilty about their expression of racial pride. Fong, a moderate, should not have been ripped by blacks as a tool of conservatives if those African Americans want to see a person of color in high office.

If there are pawns, it might very well be blacks who are content to reside on a plantation run by the Democratic Party -- a party that often gives very little financially to black candidates and a party that failed to fund the fight to defeat Prop. 209, which banned statewide affirmative action in California.

This is California, where 6 per cent of the voters once said they could never support Tom Bradley for governor because he was African American. If people think voting for Fong just because he is Asian was a terrible thing , I would say voting against Fong just because he is Asian is a lot worse.

If the Democrats want to walk the walk, when will they put up a person of color as a candidate for a major office in a state that is moving toward being a majority minority state.

There is nothing wrong with voting for a Republican who looks like you. That's why black Democrats in Massachusetts voted for Ed Brooke, a Republican who became the first black man in the U.S. Senate.

Some contend that Fong is not the moderate that Brooke was. I disagree. Indeed more Democrats are moving to the center, and Fong has never held a national platform for his views. It remains to be seen where he would come down. But one thing is certain: his mother, March Fong Eu, a longtime Democrat and former Secretary of State in California, was bold enough to support her son and she has instilled in him core values that go beyond petty politics or parties.

Carol Mosely-Braun of Illinois, an African American, lost her bid for re-election but still had some support from black Republicans who also wanted to see a more diverse U.S. Senate. They sided with her despite her problems with campaign finances and a trip to Nigeria, which even "liberals" overlooked. Hillary Rodham Clinton said, "I want to give Carol another chance."

So, like Fong, Mosely-Braun was not a "perfect" candidate. But as the first black woman in the U.S. Senate she chipped away at the wall.

Affirmative action remains a hot button issue in black communities. Where does Fong stand on this? Frankly, I don't know. But because he is already a high achiever, he is a defender of affirmative action whether he wants to be or not. When a person of color breaks a barrier, that is affirmative action of the highest order. "Who would have though that the grandson of Chinese immigrants ... would stand here as our state treasurer," Fong told supporters.

Whenever you are "a first," you are a testament to the fact that a person of color can be skilled and savvy enough to compete and win when given the opportunity to make a mark. Isn't that what the defenders of affirmative action want?

There are exceptions to every rule. Yet we tend to rule out the exceptions when it comes to political parties.

Walk up to most African Americans and ask them what they think of Colin Powell. They will tell you he is smart enough to be president of the United States.

Does it matter that he is a Republican?

"Of course not. There are decent Republicans."

Does it matter that he is black?

They look around to make sure whites are not in earshot and say, "Wouldn't it be nice to have a black man in the White House?"

But they quickly leave that dream world and say "But whites would never vote for him."

But the polls say they would.

"People lie."

Only in the lonely confines of voting booths will Americans, with no looking on, be able to climb our Great Wall and make history sooner rather than later.