While campaigning for Democratic co-frontrunner Senator Barack Obama of Illinois, Danielle Ross, who recently turned 20, had encountered bouts of racism. Ross was surprised by the amount of racism she had come across. But, the racism was in its purist form. It seemed to be pure hate and intolerance towards Obama due to the color of his skin. Also, Ross is white.
They encountered the raw racism towards Obama while in the factory town of Muncie. They went to the malls, street corners, and various other locations. None of them could predict the amount of anti-black sentiment. They could not predict the mass level of anti-black sentiment.
Ross received comments from people in Muncie that they would not vote for Obama because he’s black. Despite the excitement and craze of Obamania, the people of Muncie, Indiana, seem to be immune fro it. But, it brings the cold stark reality that the issue of race is a double-edged sword. This will be a double-edged sword that will cut deep and cleave a presidential candidacy in two.
In the case of the people so far encountered in Muncie, they cannot even think about the possibility of a first African-American president. They somewhat “rebelled” in the form of door slams, derogatory names, racial slurs, malicious rants, and brutal stereotypes. One person that called the phone bank at one of the Obama campaign headquarters used a racial slur in regards to Obama. The person added that Obama should be hung from a tree.
Rory Kennedy, the daughter of the late Robert F. Kennedy campaigned for Obama in Pennsylvania. Currently, Rory Kennedy is a documentary filmmaker. She explains that the same type of racism towards Obama was encountered while in Pittsburgh. In that respect, she would give her blunt reason by saying: “White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people.”
This could be perceived as to why Clinton ended up winning Pennsylvania by a ten point lead over Obama. But, it was not the case in Indiana. Clinton barely defeated Obama by two points.
Despite the racial tensions towards Obama, he still leads in the delegate race. His campaign has not suffered despite the losses. Despite some major wins, Clinton’s campaign has suffered a great deal of damage. Whatever damage Obama had suffered, it looks as if he had regenerated from it.
There have also been fears that there will be assassination attempts against Obama in the future.
But in this regard, racial tensions are still there. One cannot deny that the issue of race will play a factor in the elections.