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Racists For Obama?

BRAVEONAWARPATH

By BRAVEONAWARPATH
in The Tailgate

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BRAVEONAWARPATH

BRAVEONAWARPATH

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This is interesting.

Click on the link to read the rest of the article

http://www.politico.com/news/stories/1008/14691.html

New polling and a trickle of stories from the battleground states suggest that Sen. Barack Obama's coalition includes one unlikely group: white voters with negative views of African-Americans.

Race has become the elephant in the room of the 2008 presidential campaign, with Obama’s prospect of becoming the first black president drawing some Americans closer to him while pushing others away. At times, the contest has slipped into a familiar dynamic of allegations of racism and outraged denial — but it's also challenged some easy assumptions about race, racism and prejudice.

“What you see is it’s perfectly possible to hold a negative view of at least one aspect of African-Americans and yet simultaneously prefer Obama,” said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Racial feelings are not as cut and dried — not as black and white — as people often say.”

Franklin explored those contradictions in a large, national survey taken in mid-September, when the Illinois Democratic senator's rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), led in many polls and the nation’s economic woes had not yet produced a deep crisis. The poll asked voters whether they agreed with the statement that “African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing." About a fifth of white voters said they “strongly agreed.” Yet among those who agreed, 23 percent said they’d be supporting Obama.

“This result is reasonable if you believe that race is not as monolithic an effect as we might easily assume,” Franklin said, noting that 22 percent of those who "strongly disagreed" said they'd be supporting McCain.

Anecdotes from across the battlegrounds suggest that there’s a significant minority of prejudiced white voters who will swallow hard and vote for the black man.

“I wouldn’t want a mixed marriage for my daughter, but I’m voting for Obama,” the wife of a retired Virginia coal miner, Sharon Fleming, told the Los Angeles Times recently.

One Obama volunteer told Politico after canvassing the working-class white Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown recently, "I was blown away by the outright racism, but these folks are … undecided. They would call him a [racial epithet] and mention how they don't know what to do because of the economy.”

The notion that there might be “racists for Obama,” as one Democrat called them, comes against the backdrop of a country whose white voters largely accept the notion of a black president.

“The economy is trumping racism,” said Kurt Schmoke, the dean of Howard University Law School and a former Baltimore mayor. “A lot of people who we might think wouldn’t vote their pocketbook because of race — now they are.”

“If you go to a white neighborhood in the suburbs and ask them, ‘How would you feel about a large black man kicking your door in,’ they would say, ‘That doesn’t sound good to me,’” said Democratic political consultant Paul Begala. “But if you say, 'Your house is on fire, and the firefighter happens to be black,' it’s a different situation.”

“The house is on fire, and one guy seems like he’s calm and confident and in charge, and that’s the only option,” he said.

That is, in less dramatic terms, more or less the campaign’s official talking point, a version of the longtime Democratic hope that class will — or at least should — matter more than race.

“Voters are less interested in the hot button and are more interested in the cooling economy,” said Rep. Jesse Jackson Jr. (D-Ill.), an Obama ally who is as on-message as his father is off.

But other, more nuanced, questions of race are also in play.

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BigMike619

BigMike619

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“If you go to a white neighborhood in the suburbs and ask them, ‘How would you feel about a large black man kicking your door in,’ they would say, ‘That doesn’t sound good to me,’” said Democratic political consultant Paul Begala. “But if you say, 'Your house is on fire, and the firefighter happens to be black,' it’s a different situation.”

huh? i think if you asked me, KB, BRAVE or anyone on this board "is it cool if ANY COLOR man kicks in your door?" the answer is always going to be no. and the same with the other statement.

race articles always equal reaction though and thats what this will get.

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BRAVEONAWARPATH

BRAVEONAWARPATH

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“If you go to a white neighborhood in the suburbs and ask them, ‘How would you feel about a large black man kicking your door in,’ they would say, ‘That doesn’t sound good to me,’” said Democratic political consultant Paul Begala. “But if you say, 'Your house is on fire, and the firefighter happens to be black,' it’s a different situation.”

huh? i think if you asked me, KB, BRAVE or anyone on this board "is it cool if ANY COLOR man kicks in your door?" the answer is always going to be no. and the same with the other statement.

race articles always equal reaction though and thats what this will get.

You're right. :(

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BigMike619

BigMike619

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You're right. :(

and I bet if you went in to the hood and asked a black family if it was cool if I came over and kicked their door in they wouldnt say yes either.

I get that him being black is going to be groundbreaking but I am not going to feed in to it. I would rather have him go down as a GOOD president rather then a BLACK president.

if he gets elected that is...;)

I havent abandoned ship unlike my brother Hog has. :silly:

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Larry

Larry

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The poll asked voters whether they agreed with the statement that “African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing." About a fifth of white voters said they “strongly agreed.” Yet among those who agreed, 23 percent said they’d be supporting Obama.

[non PC]Maybe what the poll indicates is that 23% of the people who said "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing." aren't racist.[/non PC]

:movefast:

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DjTj

DjTj

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[non PC]Maybe what the poll indicates is that 23% of the people who said "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing." aren't racist.[/non PC]

:movefast:

Well, the researcher was very careful not to use the word "racist." He said:

“What you see is it’s perfectly possible to hold a negative view of at least one aspect of African-Americans and yet simultaneously prefer Obama,” said Charles Franklin, a political scientist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. “Racial feelings are not as cut and dried — not as black and white — as people often say.”

Holding "a negative view of at least one aspect of African-Americans" doesn't necessarily mean you are a racist.

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DjTj

DjTj

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I know this isn't your study, but do you have an example in mind?
Well, the example from the articles is: "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing."

That statement could mean a lot of things. I think many people, including you, would say that about O.J. Simpson or Al Sharpton. You could even say that about affirmative action, which is the explicit usage of race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing (discrimination by race).

I think it's very possible to agree that "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing" but not necessarily be a racist.

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Zguy28

Zguy28

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[non PC]Maybe what the poll indicates is that 23% of the people who said "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing." aren't racist.[/non PC]

:movefast:

That's exactly what I thought too.
Holding "a negative view of at least one aspect of African-Americans" doesn't necessarily mean you are a racist.
I agree. It could be any demographic.

It is a prejudice, but it isn't because of hate. Racism is based on hate i.e. "just because they are black."

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Teller

Teller

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Well, the example from the articles is: "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing."

That statement could mean a lot of things. I think many people, including you, would say that about O.J. Simpson or Al Sharpton. You could even say that about affirmative action, which is the explicit usage of race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing (discrimination by race).

I think it's very possible to agree that "African-Americans often use race as an excuse to justify wrongdoing" but not necessarily be a racist.

Well, first of all, affirmative action, AFAIK, was implemented by the majority-white federal and state governments in this country. So while African-Americans may take advantage of the benefits afforded them by it, they're ultimately not responsible for it, IMO. (Nor the conditions that led up to it, of course.)

As far as O.J., I don't know that he ever blamed his race for allegedly (psh...I tried to say it with a straight face, I swear) killing his wife and Ron Goldman; or for robbing the memoribilia dealer. Granted, his attorneys complained after the fact about his most-recent jury (after helping to select it, of course) but I honestly don't know if they were black or white.

Sharpton's just an idiot. Now of course, he used his race, say, in the Tawana Brawley case, for doing something that was dead wrong. But if I look at every African-American as someone out to frame a police officer, then yes, I'd assert I am a racist.

I truly can't think of one thing that I could hold a negative view of, regarding all African-Americans, that DOESN'T make me a racist. Likewise, I think many positive things (i.e. -- assuming African-Americans are naturally better athletes) can be construed as racist as well.

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Teller

Teller

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That's exactly what I thought too.

I agree. It could be any demographic.

It is a prejudice, but it isn't because of hate. Racism is based on hate i.e. "just because they are black."

I don't think racism necessarily has to include hatred, Zguy, with all respect.

Whites are naturally smarter.

Blacks are naturally better athletes.

Hispanics naturally make better tacos.

DjTj plays the piano better than hog. (:silly:)

These can all be considered racist statements. None of them are truly "hateful."

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