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Bugs · 06-08-2008, 04:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Jet Gorgon

That's where I beg to differ, Bugs. I think the lower classes of both races will change for the worse if Obama gets in, with whiteys angry that a "nigga" is president and the blacks shoving the fact in their face. That's why I've focused on this the whole race. And you know what rural white folks are like when they see an "uppity" black, never mind folks in the South.
Sure, the educated folks will do fine, but I don't think America as a whole will be able to embrace a black president.

Actually much like the civil war has never ended for many in the south, I don’t think the battle for civil rights has died with many of the blacks or poor whites in the US. At the bottom end of the scale things are still pretty bad when it comes to race relations in the US. In reality it has more to do with economics than race, but race is an easy excuse. On that front I don’t know that thing could get any worse. The blacks don’t think they have been given enough, the whites think they have been given too much, the browns are wondering when folks are going to notice they are a minority too, and the yellow folk are simply trying to tip-toe thru the minefield and get an education.

What Obama seems to have done in many places is make folks wake up to the fact that race plays a larger part in how they see the world than most thought was the case. It has always been pretty easy to pigeonhole Mr. Jackson, and Mr. Sharpton and the such as such out to make things better for the black folks - only. This is not the case for Obama. He has been able to appeal to a larger cross-section with a message that is not only focused on the lowest tiers of society, and while he has certainly taken advantage of race where he can, he has not beat people over the head with the race issue.

That is why I think many white folks who never really thought themselves as racists are having a bit of a hard time right now. They seem to agree with Obama on the surface, yet they also have a problem thinking of him as the candidate of choice for the next president of the US.

I also disagree a bit with Tex when he says we have governors, senators, and congressmen/women that are black already. It is much easier based upon how congressional lines are drawn to vote in a minority/female into office in other races than it is in the presidential race. Granted with the electoral college the presidential race is not a straight popularity contest, but it is much more difficult to appeal across the nation than it is to appeal across a single state/ senate/ or congressional district.

I think it is more than just at the fring. Hence the polls where Obama is in the high 90's with the black vote, yet I have not seen a single poll where Obama has even been in the mid-high 40's with the white vote.

Race is an issue, and more so than most thought it would be. Even folks that thought race would not matter to them find themselves contemplating the race issue now that is smack in their faces.

From another point of view the ladies in the house must be a bit miffed that not only did the blacks beat them to the voting booth they have also beat them to the race for the oval office.

I must say however that things have progressed alot further than what I had though in the US. When I left the US to live in Asia about ten year ago I would give anyone odd on a female or a minority getting the top spot with no questions asked. Now it seems that both have a real shot - which IMHO is a good sign of how things have progressed, and again one of the reasons that I find at times that I actually pull for Obama to excell even though I don't agree with most of his policies.