Dizzy, Obama, and race

Let's start with Dizzy's assertion that it's a question that isn't readily asked. 12,000 Google results disagree with you. The question has been posed in the mainstream U.S. (and international) media, and it lingers as a subtext beneath the debate.

A year ago, when Obama stepped into this race, the big question was not about his ability to garner white support, but his ability to appeal to the African American community that grew up with the civil rights movement. In a piece for Time last February, Ta-Nehisi Paul Coates asked "Is Obama Black Enough?" Coates wrote:

As much as his biracial identity has helped Obama build a sizable following in middle America, it's also opened a gap for others to question his authenticity as a black man. In calling Obama the "first mainstream African-American who is articulate and bright and clean and a nice-looking guy," [Sen. Joe Biden's] implication was that the black people who are regularly seen by whites — or at least those who aspire to the highest office in the land — are none of these things. But give Biden credit — at least he acknowledged Obama's identity.

In the pro-Democrat webzine Salon, "The End of Blackness" author Debra Dickinson went so far as to say "Obama isn't Black," on the basis of the fact he doesn't descend from Western African slaves. Dickinson cautions against jumping to any grand cultural conclusions on the basis of Obama's candidacy.

But if you move beyond the arguments of a year ago, you can look at the scenario today. While the media frequently have sought to point out that the Democrats will almost certainly nominate either the first female or black candidate, these questions are far from the main ones that the voters are asking. That's not to say that voters are looking past race and gender — surely many are and some aren't doing so. It's merely to say that Obama's rise, and the eventual outcome of his campaign, probably say little about America's race attitudes overall.

In the 2008 race, the questions being asked the most by voters are about health care, education, the war in Iraq, the economy, and terrorism. There is a lot of speculation, but precious little evidence to support the conclusion that Americans walking into the voting booth are asking themselves "Can I vote for a black man?" just before they mark their ballots.

If Obama wins the presidency, will that "do the most significant positive act for race relations in the history of the Western World," as Dizzy states? Or, on the flip side, if Obama wins the nomination but loses in November, would that mean Dizzy's statement that "the question of racism would rear it's head during the presidency of a Republican winner" holds true?

The answer is, "Probably not," in both cases.

Sure, racism still exists in America. (It exists in Britain, too.) And, surely, there are Americans who will rule out voting for Obama, merely because of his race. Westmonster would argue that this is not an irrelevant proportion of the population, but also that it's highly likely this proportion of the population would not support the Democratic nominee unless the embalmed body of George Wallace won the nomination.

Interestingly, the results out of Iowa indicate that a significant number of voters previously registered as Republicans switched their affiliation to the Democratic party, strictly so they could support Obama in the caucuses. In a state which, as has been pointed out everywhere, is 95% white, that's not insignificant.

Of course, much remains to be seen. If it is to believed that America's racist heart lies in the South, then there should be several opportunities to see how things turn out for Obama beneath the Mason-Dixon line. The first opportunity should be in South Carolina, later this month — a state where Obama is polling ahead amongst Democrats, but where John McCain's 2000 Republican campaign was famously derailed by racist push-polling that accused him of fathering a mixed-race illegitimate child.

Westmonster cautions Dizzy against drawing conclusions about American prejudice — never mind elevating an invented "anti-GOP prejudice" (WTF?) to the same level as race-based prejudice.

All indications at the moment are that the vast majority of Americans are making their decisions based on factors other than race, and this should be read as a positive sign. An eventual Obama loss wouldn't mean Americans are inherently racist.