Saturday, September 20, 2008

Poll-Racism Is A Major Factor Keeping Obama From Winning Big

TransGriot Note: One of my commenters disagreed with my observation in a recent post that some racist whites could possibly deny Obama the shot at the White House he deserved as the more qualified person to run this country.

Well here's the evidence to back up what I stated and already know - 10-15% of the white electorate will not vote for an African-American no matter how qualified they are because of racist assumptions about African-Americans they still hold.

And that 10-15% figure is the folks who admitted it.

One of the reasons many African-American Democrats are still pissed at Hillary is that she and her campaign team introduced the race baiting themes and lines of attack on Obama in the primary that John McCain is using right now.

We African-Americans will do our part to help get Obama elected. It's on you progressive whites to convert the holdouts in YOUR neighborhoods to vote for the most qualified man we've had in a generation for this office.

One of the things you can tell those holdouts who fear revenge from an Obama administration for all the negative things done to us over the last 200 plus years by white politicians, is that unlike the Sarah Palins and Republicans of the world, Black politicians, especially first African-Americans to hold a position previously dominated by whites are far more concerned with doing the job correctly and competently.

African-Americans don't have the luxury of using a political position to gain personal revenge on peeps they don't like. We're more concerned with creating a positive leadership impression and tearing down stereotypes. We know that if we don't do a bang up job the first time, there won't be a second or third Black elected to that office.

Poll: Racial Views Steer Some White Dems Away From Obama

Associated Press Writers

































Associated Press writers Nancy Benac, Julie Carr Smyth, Philip Elliot, Julie Pace and Sonya Ross contributed to this story.


Dale said...

How could anyone even answer that poll? Its very premise seems rooted in stereotyping. "How well does each of these words describe most blacks?"
How can anyone generalize in such a fashion? If instead of blacks you asked about most whites, or most schoolteachers or most homosexuals the question would be equally unanswerable.

Monica Roberts said...

The fact that people felt comfortable enough to truthfully answer those questions should give you food for thought.

Nichole said...

This poll merely shows some of what is pretty obvious when whites talk to whites. It would be comical if Eddie Murphy had done this on SNL thirty years ago. O, that's right, he did.

I suspect that Dems who claim they don't "trust his competence" don't trust his competence due to his skin-color. That is not surprising at all to this white girl.

It's something whites I have known in the South, West and Northeast (all places I have lived) have all done with a regularity that leaves not much to imagination. Competence, if questioned even by the likes of Sarah Palin and John McCain translates into a "reason" that isn't allegedly racial to not for Obama. The sub-text? Because he is black.

Dale, I'm glad people answered that poll. This is the dirtiest of all the white dirty-secrets out there and the Pubs know it and are using it. Just as Bill and Hillary knew and used it.

The fact that white folk are horrified that some large number of whites owned it is also telling. My guess would be that another 15% of the respondents felt it and refused to own it. That would put about the entire 30% of Dems not voting for Obama at the absolute right level: 70% for, 30% against.

Thanks Monica for yet another excellent amd salient pointing out of an aspect of "our" society that not really much of anyone who is white wishes to own.

Lisa Harney said...

I think the poll - which includes more than Dale seems to think - sounds like it pretty thoroughly gives room for people to not stereotype.

I know that people get really defensive about the bias test that flashes faces and concepts at you, but it's actually pretty thoroughly tested and fairly accurate.

And it's not like producing surveys is itself some kind of mystical art. The process of making one tends to eliminate random factors and encouraged bias, leaving room for people to just answer the question.

Tim Wise talks about this too.

Anonymous T said...

i work in a polling center.

The things i've been witness to can't really be vented until we are close to the election.

Needless to say, it would blow your mind. Not only do i have very little belief left in us as a nation, i have some bad days on the phone where i almost wonder if we should just be wiped out to start over.

Dale said...

Holy crud. Well I messed up. I reacted to a tree when I should have seen the forest.

The poll results are appalling. They sicken me and make me worry for this country. How have we survived this long?

Thank you, Monica, for drawing our attention to the poll. I need to spend more time discussing it with others.