Ever since the Democratic Presidential primaries, the topic of race has been a very major one. One must add that the Democratic primary was one of the most interesting contests for a number of reasons.
The first reason is that there were two diverse candidates. There was the first female co-frontrunner Senator Hillary Clinton of New York and there was the first biracial co-frontrunner in Senator Barack Obama of Illinois. And yes, both Clinton and Obama ended up reaching frontrunner status.
The second reason is that the Democratic primary had gone through every single contest. This was a grueling contest between Obama and Clinton.
The third reason is that the topics of race and gender were brought up. It was inevitable that both race and gender would be brought up in the Democratic primary contest. But that is in the past now ever since Obama had clinched the Democratic nomination.
But, race continues to play a factor in the US Presidential race. However, the topic of race is a Pandora’s Box that produces a random effect each time it has been opened up.
Shockingly, it has been revealed that one fragment of Obama’s supporters are white voters that have negative outlooks towards the African-American community. So far, it has been revealed to be possible.
Charles Franklin, who is a political scientist at the University of Wisconsion-Madison, feelings of racism and prejudice are not black and white. In short, Franklin calls it a massive gray area.
“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,” Franklin explains.
The results are interesting.
According to Sharon Fleming, the wife of a retired coal miner, she would not want her daughter to marry outside of their race. Ironically, Fleming plans to cast her vote for Obama on Election Day.
One volunteer was shocked when canvassing a white neighborhood of Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. According to this volunteer’s recollection, there was blunt racism in the neighborhood. Yet, they were still debating on what to do.
In regards to Michigan, there is the history of deep racial tension in Detroit. Ironically, Obama has been doing well in Michigan. This is one of the crucial battleground states of the election. Not long ago, GOP Presidential nominee Senator John McCain of Arizona had made the choice to withdraw from Michigan. It was a move that was not popular with the GOP.
In a sense, they are stuck between Obama’s race and the state of the economy. For the most part, economy looks to take prominence over racism. In short, an interesting dynamic in the 2008 US Presidential Elections have been revealed.
Racism is a gray area, let alone a gray area in this year’s election race. The issue of race continues to be a constantly shifting factor.