U.S. General of Jamaican descent

I had no idea, but Colin Powell, former U.S. Secretary of State and former General of U.S. army, is of Jamaican descent. He was born to Jamaican parents. I learned this from an interview with him by the Jamaica Gleaner, published today: click to read
Barack Obama has commander-in-chief quality, says Powell.

By the way, I have been hearing and reading many people in Jamaica expressing their view that ironically it is Bush who paved the way for Obama to rise by appointing Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice for the high-profile position in his administration. I find it very intriguing that I hear this view quite often around here although I never hear it from the U.S. media. Is it that the perspective is totally irrelevant in U.S., or is it not expressed in U.S. for fear of invoking the "r" word, i.e. "race", or...?