No one wants to talk about race in this presidential election, least of all Democratic nominee Barack Obama. But a new poll puts a laser on racial attitudes and how they may affect the outcome. The poll results may be unsettling for Obama.
The AP-Yahoo News poll http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gehjsXjRU6cEer94pOkWWCmJEOAAD93B2O300, conducted with Stanford University, found that 40 percent of all white Americans hold at least a partly negative view of blacks and about one-third of white Democrats do. According to the poll, many call blacks "lazy," "violent" or responsible for their own troubles.
More than a third of all white Democrats and independents — voters Obama can't win the White House without — agreed with at least one negative adjective about blacks, according to the survey, and they are significantly less likely to vote for Obama than those who don't have such views.
Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president — white, black or brown.
The findings suggest that Obama's problem is close to home — among his fellow Democrats, particularly non-Hispanic white voters. Just seven in 10 people who call themselves Democrats support Obama, compared to the 85 percent of self-identified Republicans who back McCain.
The survey focused on the racial attitudes of independent voters because they are likely to decide the election.
Lots of Republicans harbor prejudices, too, but the survey found they weren't voting against Obama because of his race. Most Republicans wouldn't vote for any Democrat for president — white, black or brown.
"There are a lot fewer bigots than there were 50 years ago, but that doesn't mean there's only a few bigots," said Stanford political scientist Paul Sniderman who helped analyze the exhaustive survey.
IF YOU THINK YOU ARE TELLING US SOMETHING NEW--NO LUCK. BLACKS AND WHITES KNOW WHY SOME WHITES ARE NOT VOTING FOR OBAMA. HE IS A BLACK MAN. A WHITE WOULD RATHER STARVE THAN VOTE FOR A BLACK MAN. THIS IS OUR HISTORY BUT WE JUST AS WELL GET OVER IT.
ReplyDeleteWHAT A SAD THING FOR AMERICA.
And what a sad thing for America that some blacks will vote for Obama simply because his skin is dark. They don't care about the issues, or what he might do if he gets into the white house. All they care about is that a dark-skinned man wold be president. If he fulfils all his promises, it will be 100 years before another dark skinned man is able to win, because the first one messed things up so badly.
ReplyDeleteI beg your pardon Crystalbass, I am 69 years old and have never voted for a Black man. I have always, as I recall, voted for white men. I am voting for this Black man, not because he is Black, but because, he by far, is the best qualified. There have been Black men who have run for President before that I did not vote for.
ReplyDeleteRECALL- McCain graduated second to last of this 898 sized class. Obama graduate with honors from Havard University and President of the Harvard Review. Does this look like I am voting because he is Black. You seem to be making excuses--SO WHAT IS NEW?
This comment has been removed by the author.
ReplyDeleteJust because you're prejudiced against blacks doesn't mean you can't vote for Obama.
ReplyDeleteHe's not lazy or violent.
And so what if other (or even most) blacks are?
They aren't him.
And they probably think he "acts white", anyway.
That's good enough for me.
Left unsaid is the fact that nearly all blacks are voting for Obama. Which constitutes a lot of racism on their part. I would vote for Alan Keyes if he were the Republican nominee but I will never vote for a candidate that will take away my guns, despise my religious beliefs and wants to kill unborn babies. Throw in a dollop of socialism and that is what you get with Obama
ReplyDeletebai..
ReplyDeleteThere is no basis for your statement that most blacks are violent. That would be like saying that most whites are pedophiles (or violent pedophiles).
As Americans, we need to get past this kind of ignorance and move into the 21st century.
And as far as blacks voting for blacks... this has been mentioned again and again. I am a 54 year old black woman and, like jjbrad, I have voted for white men for president 100% of the time. I did not vote for Jesse Jackson when he ran because I did not believe he was the best choice, and, if Alan Keyes were to run for president, I would not vote for him for the same reason.
The number of blacks who vote for Obama purely because he is black cannot come close to offsetting the number of whites who don't vote for him because his is black.