Rumors realized

It's been probably the worst-kept secret of the year: the vacation plans of the First Family. Even before I arrived here, I'd heard rumors the Obamas would be vacationed on the island. In the past six weeks, it's been a hot topic everywhere from Edgartown to Aquinnah. Walk through the business districts and you'll see Obama-inspired displays in window after window. Eavesdrop on conversations and you'll hear multiple theories about when they'll arrive, where they'll stay, what they'll do here and who'll be hosting them.

Today, the plans were finally officially announced. Details are still on the sketchy side, but it does look like it will happen, and that news must be glorious indeed to merchants and restaurant owners who complained about lost business all through the cold, rainy month of June.

As for what it will mean for the general public, we'll see. The traffic here is already tough to navigate -- getting in and out of Edgartown is tricky under the very best of circumstances, and finding parking in Oak Bluffs is getting increasingly challenging, even though there are hundreds of spaces available -- and putting a few hundred more vehicles on the island's narrow, twisty roads won't make things any easier.

At the same time, it's hard not to be at least somewhat excited. And what an interesting time for the Obamas to arrive, just as the African-American community on the island is up in arms about a highly critical piece by Touré in New York Magazine that paints a most unflattering picture of snobbery among the Vineyard's black residents. Among the most controversial points in the feature is a quote from a "Vineyarder who’s part of black high society" who says (without putting his or her name to it, of course) that the Obamas won't fit in.

"Obama is more a man of the people," the secretive source claims. "...He doesn’t seem to identify with affluent black people. His wife definitely doesn’t; she is basically a ghetto girl. That’s what she says — I’m just being sociological. She grew up in the same place Jennifer Hudson did. She hasn’t reached out to the social community of Washington, and people are waiting to see what they’ll do about that."

Read the Vineyard Gazette story on the local response to Touré's accusations.

One of the most common misconceptions about the Vineyard is that it's a playground for millionaires and billionaires and that the only "common" people here are serving drinks, selling T-shirts and scooping ice cream. That's nothing but fantasy. All sorts of people live here and vacation here and, while there is certainly opulence and wealth to spare in certain neighborhoods, not everyone is strolling around in Armani suits or driving Maseratis. The Vineyard is a celebrity magnet because the stars know they can come here and the locals will not chase them down the street or snap unflattering photos of them to sell to the tabloids. The attitude here seems to be similar to what they'd find in New York City: Even if the stars are recognized, they're not hassled -- or, if they are, it's not by residents, it's by other visitors. People may spread the word that Steve Carell is around, or Owen and Luke Wilson, but that's about as far as it goes.

Does that mean the Obamas will find peace and privacy, too? Let's face it: It's much easier for Carell and the Wilsons to sneak around than it will be for Barack and Michelle, who must surround themselves with Secret Service personnel. But it would be my suspicion that if the media was banned from coming to the island, the Obamas would probably be treated similarly to any other celebrities that vacation here: People would talk, but they wouldn't stalk.