Posted on 07/11/2008 10:27:11 AM PDT by SmithL
By becoming the first African American set to win the nomination of a major political party, Barack Obama showed that we have come a long way in overcoming our long history of racism. But winning the presidency is a different matter.
The racial divide seen in the primaries has many Democrats (I include myself) worried that the issue of race will loom even larger in the general election. Too many people – how many is hard to estimate since some voters lie to pollsters – still harbor racial resentments against blacks. For them, Obama is first and foremost a black man who, for that reason alone, will never get their support.
Our knowledge of how race influences voting behavior is often more suggestive than definitive, and much of what we know is by now quite commonplace. For example, an American National Election Study conducted in l988, l992 and 2000 found that racial animosity was highest among males rather than females, those without a college degree, those who worked in blue-collar jobs or as laborers, and residents of small towns in the Midwest and the South.
These findings, as New Republic senior editor John B. Judis has noted, "more or less correspond with the profile of white voters who spurned Obama in the primaries."
A sobering reminder: The national electorate who will vote in November is whiter, more middle-class and more conservative than the liberal, high-income and college-educated Democrats who favored Obama over Hilary Clinton.
Furthermore, nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape, and three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice, according to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll.
An additional concern: The data from the national election study showed that Latinos were nearly as prejudiced against blacks as whites,...
(Excerpt) Read more at sacbee.com ...
For me Obama is first and foremost a socialist who, for that reason alone, will never get my support.
And that secret is...that ten's of thousands of tank & file Democrats....are racist. And will not vote for a black person. Period.
tank = rank
Too many blacks still harbor racial resentments against everyone else. It is not hard to estimate how many.
To all blacks reading this post:
Vote for McCain or you are racist!
/s
I have a whole list of reasons not to vote for Obama, and race isn’t in the top 100.
Way back when, the O.J. verdict-almost all black jury-and more so, the REACTION to it, (I remember seeing black college LAW STUDENTS cheering, as well as watching blacks pounding on whitey-driven car hoods at intersections, etc. That pretty much decided present-day race relations for me.
If Michael Steele were running against any white liberal, I’d sure as heck vote for him.
Funny thing..was that's exactly what came to my mind...when I saw my typo. Ha!
Thanks for posting...
“For me Obama is first and foremost a socialist”....
Agreed! Skin color has nothing to do with a mans politics!
A lot of people will vote for Obama just because he’s black ignoring his hidden far left socialist agenda.
I would vote for someone like Thomas Sowell but black people wouldn’t for the most part.
Hubby was talking to a black guy yesterday that he works with and was very surprised to hear him not be very impressed with BO! I do think the shine is starting to wear off and since he has really no record there is nothing there except words. Wasn’t Hillary the one who said that both her and Senator McCain had a lifetime of service and BO had a speech he gave in 2002? I could see that being a very effect general election ad!
"Barack is viewed in part to be the white man in blackface in our community." - Donne Trotter Illinois State Senator.
There is only one reason for this type of article and you can expect to see them more frequently as we approach election day-to make white voters feel guilt so they will vote for Obama. If Obama was running as a black conservative Republican do you think there would be these kind of stories?
In summary:
If 90% or more of voters of one particular color choose a candidate for no other reason than he “looks like them” that’s OK.
But if folks of an alternate tint/hue even harbor similar thoughts, they are virulent racists.
Re the dirty little secret (not so little, really) about “race” in this election year —
My question is: Will many Democrats and others look past their racial biases and vote for Obama anyway simply because he is the Dem candidate? I wonder. I can see some women doing this but not so many men. We shall see.
I just have this feeling that when it comes time to vote in November, and if the choice is still between Obamessiah and McCain, McCain will be chosen.
Unless, of course, Hillary is on the ticket with the “magic” one — then who the h*ll knows what will happen? Her supporters would likely be happy, for the most part, but all those who detest Hillary, including male Dems, might vote McCain.
The only certainty is that this will be a very interesting election season.
“For them, Obama is first and foremost a black man who, for that reason alone, will never get their support. “
first and foremost Obama is the result of a biracial “marriage”, and that without his upbringing by his white mother and typical white grandparents and the support and encouragement they gave him, would not now be where he is, a black man? hardly.
The DNC is the party of the race-obsessed. So it can’t help but make a difference on their side of the aisle.
For normal people, the questions are all about policy and character. How will he handle the war, for example. Can he be trusted to have the judgement necessary to handle national security issues. Does he understand the very concept of liberty and a free citizenry.
McCain is such a weak candidate that any adult ought to be able to beat him. This ought to be the DNC’s year. Sadly for everyone, however, they’ve gone back to the same well that produced Clinton, Gore, and Kerry. As bad as McCain is, we can’t afford anything on offer from the DNC this year.
The percentage of Liberals voting for McCain will be unmeasurable, in any circumstance.
I have voted for Alan Keyes twice in the primaries; once against Bob Dole and once against GW Bush.
I hope that doesn't affect my credibility, assuming I have any. I know Keyes is a little over-the-top but I liked him in the race because he elevated the debate.
If Obama was white he wouldn’t have left the starting gate.
That is the thing that keeps me so excited. I can't even say for certain we know who will be on the bottom or the top of either ticket. I feel a surprise coming on.
When liberal journalists stop calling black people of prominance associated with conservativism and Republican administrations “Uncle Toms” and “house *****ers”, THEN we will have come a long way.
Until then, persons of color (not just black Americans), who allign with conservatives are slurred for “selling out”.
When the Left stops their attacks on people because they “choose the wrong party for their skin color”, then we will start to be a colorblind society.
Absolutely —Geraldine Ferraro was correct.
If Obama were not black, at least in appearance if not in totality, he would not be on the scene now, guaranteed.
Ferraro got badly beaten up for that remark by fellow Dems but she was right on target.
By becoming the first African American set to win the nomination of a major political party, Barack Obama showed that we have come a long way in overcoming our long history of racism.
This is absolutely pathetic. America may have a long history of considering race to be important, in the sense of the importance of family ties and lines of descent. It does not have a long history--except in the minds of agitators and demagogues--of condoning unfair treatment of other races.
But what is more to the immediate point is that Obama's candidacy says nothing whatever about anything connected with America's large, native, Black population. American Negroes came from West Africa--from tribes located on the Western side of that vast Continent. Obama--who is only accidentally here at all, as his father was neither a settler nor an immigrant, but only here for a brief sojourn--has no tie whatsoever to any West African people. His father was a member of the Luo tribe in Kenya. While they are a largely Negroid people, they speak a Hamitic language. Thus they are no more akin to the West African Negroid peoples than are Afghan Caucasoids kin to the Irish or Scottish Caucasoids.
It is wonderful to behold how the Liberal thought police against "racism," lump people together racially, when there is little basis, just to make whatever irrational point, appears to serve their wants of the moment.
William Flax
Agree — Living here in L.A., site of OJ trials I and II, I can say that it wasn’t pretty around here and just going to work in a “diverse” office environment back then had its challenges.
Blacks and whites barely spoke to each other after the verdict in the first trial — blacks were celebrating and whites and others were so incensed they were speechless, and much of this was due to the response of so many blacks to the verdict rather than the verdict itself. Horrifying.
It was similar here during the Rodney King incident and resulting riots. Then there were the Watts riots of the sixties.
One wonders what might happen if Obamessiah does NOT win this election? Nationwide rioting? Who knows? But the threat of trouble is not enough to make me vote for the guy to keep the peace. He is a nothing — an empty suit — totally unqualified for the Presidency. Every time I hear him speak I wait for something besides bumbling worthless babble to come out of his mouth and the ONLY time he makes sense is when he is bellowing out some well scripted remarks by his speechwriters.
Nobama, no way, not ever.
I have to laugh at the callers to Hannity's show who think Republicans won't vote for Obama because he's black. (actually half-black, but I digress) As if Obama was totally white, conservative Republicans would vote for him in droves. My only conclusion is that many Dems are so ignorant about the differences between liberals and conservatives the differences should be explained to them.
“If Obama was white he wouldn’t have left the starting gate.”...
Can you imagine a white guy with his resume?....
Just as if Sweet Hillary weren’t married to you-know-who, she wouldn’t be on the scene either, and would never have been elected senator. Guaranteed. She would NEVER have been a serious candidate for prez.
Almost all blacks will vote for Obama, and just because he’s black. THAT is racism. But nobody seems to write about it.
WHY?
WHY?
WHY?
does the MSM completely ignore the fact that O'Bama's (at least) 50% Caucasian?
I feel bad for Stanley (RIP) and his grandparents.
Obama could be white and I wopuldn’t vote for him...I’m a liberal “ist” .
Lots of evidence that he is on Obama's Family Tree.
Never a photo of mom with dear old dad, however.
“3 in 10 acknowledge racial prejudice”
I think its safe to assume the 3 are black
Almost every african american will vote on color alone due to the historical factor.
So where does the racial prejudice lie
blacks were celebrating and whites and others were so incensed they were speechless, and much of this was due to the response of so many blacks to the verdict rather than the verdict itself.
ONE HUNDRED per cent correct. The prosecution did the worst job I’d ever seen up to that time,of course, but the absolute joy at the verdict infuriated me (”What the hell, his victims were only white people, and he’ll never kill anybody else”)the most. To this day, I will change the channel if anyone from that case comes on television-and I despise FOX for having Mark Furhman (sp?), Marcia Clark, and other swine responsible for that debacle on constantly as ‘legal advisors’. It merely legitimizes them and gives them credibility. If I had my way, no one on either side would have ever been allowed to practice law again. Sweet ex-go-go dancer Marcia was more concerned with showing off her legs in her newest micro-mini or her latest hairdo than she was in obtaining a guilty verdict. At least Cochran paid the ultimate price (brain cancer). I’d better stop now, the memories are starting to pump my blood pressure up again.
Nationwide rioting?
In response to your question. My opinion is there will be hell come November. Just think if BHO loses, rioting and chanting “whitey” stole the election. God forbide he wins, then it will be like a superbowl championship (still rioting in the streets). Either way we lose. Seen this on another site yesterday keep your gas tanks full, extra cash and families close at hand.
Like Whoopi or Oprah or the other sweetheart harpie on THE VIEW (”I can finally vote for someone like me”).
Obama wouldnt have a chance with blacks if he was conservative. According to how most blacks vote, they hate the constitution, they love abortion, they believe in racism, they adore govt welfare, and they like having higher taxes. But yes given the choice between a black liberal and a white liberal blacks would almost always vote for a black liberal because they are so colorblind/[s].
And-don’t forget- there is still the possibility, even if remote now, that the Clintons will somehow steal the nomination. I won’t breathe easy on that one until the convention is completely over, only because I put absolutely nothing past their Dixie mafia machine. They don’t care about the country or who gets hurt (or even dies), only power.
Race is the only reason he gets the support he’s getting. Funny how that cuts both ways, no?
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