The Presidential election of 2008: Seen as Black and White

The Presidential election of this year is special. Perhaps this is the most special election for over 100 years, perhaps going as far back as to the Civil War. That is because in this one election multiple events are going to happen that will change America forever, no matter which candidate wins.

Specifically I want to focus on Senator Obama. By his historic nomination he has set off dominoes that continue to fall, and will fall for decades to come. And every one of those dominoes is connected to race relations in America.

I know many people have wondered what are Senator Obama’s chances of winning the election. And I must say that they are pretty bad. And this has little to do with his political intentions. Because if anyone was honest they would admit that in an election year with a President that has one of the worst (if not the worst) approval ratings since they kept these ratings, and a war as unpopular as Viet Nam it is unheard of to not be leading the opposing Party with at least 10 – 20%. The words landslide should be in play.

But what is holding America back? The Congress is Democratic, and ineffective. While this is the hands-down worst Congress ever, with approval ratings even lower than the President, no one really believes that Congress is all that effective even in the best of times. But the Congress is chanting the latest political fads – change, environmentally positive everything, more money in the average guys pocket, and an end to the wars. The Democratic nominee should be swimming in the excess.

But this Democratic nominee is Black. Which means he has Black friends. And Black wife and children. All of them will be in the White House, and not as cleaning staff.

It would be a laughable statement, except this is America land of the worst memory in history. This nation can’t remember that slaves built the foundation of everything. This nation can’t remember that African Americans fought in every war this nation ever had, of their own free will. This nation strives to forget that up until 1922 lynching a Black man was not a crime. Or that the murder of an entire town went unpunished. Or that laws based on skin color were as real as laws from Congress.

Because in America we forget that people of color exist on television, movies, cartoons, and books. We insist on populating news footage with negative images of people of color – to such an extreme that exactly the same photos of survivors of natural disaster portray Whites as foraging for food, and Blacks as looters. It’s because of this complete unwillingness to admit that our past is as ugly as any nation, and that this past was rather recent, that we see many people shun Senator Obama.

I’m sure most have forgotten already that during the Democratic Primaries polls showed that 11% of Democratic voters (who tend to be the most liberal part of the Party) in Pennsylvania and Ohio felt that race was important in selecting a candidate. And in West Virginia there was a large group that were sure that Senator Obama was a secret Muslim terrorist.

But now there is even more proof that not only some Democrats, but the nation makes decisions in Black and White.

The Associated Press, Yahoo, and Stanford University conducted a poll of 2,227 adults between August 27th and September 5th. 55% were between 30 and 60 years old. 52% were women. 86% had high school or better educations. 57% were married, 27% single. 27% had kids. 84% lived in a city of some size. 59% were employed. 71% made $25,000 or more per year. 49% were Democrats, 36% Republican, and 7% Independent. Most importantly 69% were White, 11% were Black, and 13% were Hispanic.

Here are the important results of the poll.

54% had a somewhat or very favorable opinion of Senator Obama.
55% had a somewhat or very favorable opinion of the Democratic Party.
64% somewhat or strongly disapproved of the job President Bush is doing.

Up to this point you would have to wonder why Senator Obama is not doing better in polling results. Both he and his Party enjoy a better than 50% favorable opinion. And President Bush represents Republicans (supposedly) so he should be doing gangbusters against anything that sounds remotely like a President bush policy. Yet we know he is not.

The following is verbatim from the poll (wave 6 is the version of the poll):

The federal government increasing the tax on gasoline
Professional athletes getting million-dollar-plus salaries
Large corporations polluting the environment
Wave 6
0 4
1 14
2 31
3 51
Refused / Not Answered 0

RAC4. Please indicate HOW MANY of the following upset you.
The federal government increasing the tax on gasoline
Professional athletes getting million-dollar-plus salaries
Large corporations polluting the environment
A black family moving next door to where you live
Wave 6
0 1
1 12
2 41
3 38
4 7
Refused / Not Answered 0

RAC5. Please indicate HOW MANY of the following upset you.
The federal government increasing the tax on gasoline
Professional athletes getting million-dollar-plus salaries
Large corporations polluting the environment
Black leaders asking the government for racial equality in the work place
Wave 6
0 3
1 9
2 32
3 30
4 25
Refused / Not Answered 1

RAC6. Please indicate HOW MANY of the following upset you.
The federal government increasing the tax on gasoline
Professional athletes getting million-dollar-plus salaries
Large corporations polluting the environment
A black person serving as president of the United States
Wave 6
0 3
1 11
2 28
3 46
4 10
Refused / Not Answered 1

Notice what is different in each of the above. The numbers jump dramatically when adding in a Black person. Especially if that African American is a leader asking for equality, or is President. But isn’t it nice that there is only a slight increase when a Black person lives near Whites. I guess racism doesn’t exist – as long as we don’t try to do more than live near Whites.

But the pool goes on.

60% of the respondents like a little to a great deal Whites (which is funny since 69% are White)
52% of the respondents like a little to a great deal Blacks
52% of the respondents like a little to a great deal Hispanics

Do you happen to know the religion of each of the following candidates? If you don’t know, you can mark that too.

The key in this response is the fact that 14% feel that Senator Obama is a Muslim. That’s after 16 months of pundits on television, campaign ads, and the actual words of Obama dispelling rumors about his faith. And since 9/11 being a Muslim in this nation can be painful if not deadly.

But couple that response with this next question:

That’s 18% that would be less likely to vote for Obama, and 23% that fail to recognize or believe in his Christian faith – most believing him to be Muslim.

But what about Reverend Wright, a Christian and much spoken about during and since the Primaries?

All Respondents

Whites Only

The total of all respondents was 34% feel Rev Wright was a bad influence on their vote
The total of White respondents was 41% feel Rev Wright was a bad influence on their vote

Yet 50% said they want Senator Obama as President with or without a Democratic Congress
47% said they want a moderate President but 63% feel Obama is slightly to extremely Liberal

Now I found it interesting that 87% of White respondents felt they had just enough or too little influence on politics. Yet 75% White respondents felt Blacks had too much influence or just enough.

This question really makes me wonder

All Respondents

Whites Only

What do they mean admiration? And for whom? Do they mean if Whites admire Tiger Woods for his golfing ability, or Shaq for being able to play basketball, or do they mean Tyler Perry for his business success? And guess which one the average White American knows the name of.

When the poll asked:

Whites responded 57% that Complaining was a moderately to extremely well description
Whites responded 38% that Lazy was a moderately to extremely well description
Whites responded 40% that Irresponsible was a moderately to extremely well description
Whites responded 48% that Violent was a moderately to extremely well description

Another question asked how much people agreed or disagreed with a statement:

So in looking at these questions you get this picture – Whites (at least in this poll) feel that Blacks are violent and complain too much, in particular about slavery and Jim Crow laws and the effect being a considered a non-human that did not deserve the right to read and/or write for centuries might have had up until 1965. And that it’s irresponsible for us to believe we deserve anything more than EXACTLY what we have now.

That how I read that section.

Another question of note:

85% of the White respondents believe that Blacks are responsible for most or some of the racial tension in America today. But if you go to your TV right now, and flip thru 5 channels (excluding Unavision and BET) I doubt you will be able to find more than 2 main black characters, 1 Hispanic, and 0 Asians on all the programs combined. But being made invisible on a medium that broadcasts 24/7 wouldn’t make you feel invisible or tense. Just like if no one ever spoke or looked at you for a day or two. Wouldn’t that be relaxing, now imagine that happens everyday of your life.

Another great question:

81% of the White respondents believe that there is little to some discrimination. Refer back to the example above. Or better yet provide me with a video or link to news about a White man being shot 50 or more times by police.

Now I realize that this has been very long. And if you have followed this to here I thank you. But more importantly I hope you are thinking about this poll, and what it says about America.

There are very real issues about race in this nation. It’s more than the fact that in June of 2007 Senator Obama had to have a Secret Service detail because of the death threats he was receiving – before he became popular and months before any other potential candidate was made a similar offer. It’s more than the fact that fully some 10% of people polled in every state have said they won’t vote for an African American. It’s not even solely about the lopsided justice that the Jena 6, Wesley Snipes, Megan Williams, Sean Bell and the 3 men beaten by 15 Philadelphia police received. It’s that America has issues with anyone of color, and that issue is exponentially greater if that person has or tries to attain a position of power.

Has America improved its race relations since 1965? Yes, because police dogs and fire hoses are not used when a Black kid goes to an integrated school. But that fact, and that 1 Black man is running for the Presidency, does not mean that racism has been abolished.

Not when during the time of this election cycle African Americans have been beaten, killed, and persecuted by the same Government that he is running to be elected to lead. Not when so many believe Blacks have too much power, or are innately violent and/or lazy, and so many have problems with the idea of a Black leader or President.

In that kind of an environment are you surprised that anyone might wonder if Senator Obama can win? Even though he is well liked, his political party is favored, and the current policies and President is virtually despised. Is it really any wonder that this is not a landslide election for the Democrats and Obama?

I mean think about this. Of all the questions asked in the poll, not one mentioned a single political issue. Not one mentioned any change in the government. Not one question focused on a campaign promise that Democrats and/or Obama has made. Yet consistently for reasons revolving around the fact that Senator Obama has an excellent tan every day of his life, he is viewed as a violent, lazy, irresponsible, Muslim, that creates racial tension and complains too much with too much political power for the likes of some 20% or so of Americans.

Please tell me how this does not bode poorly for the nation and our future?

Labels: Associated Press, Megan Williams, Presidential election race 2008, race in America, Sean Bell, Senator Barack Obama, Stanford University, Wesley Snipes, Yahoo