Are Racists in America ready for an African American President?

[greblc]

Today a friend of mine was driving down the interstate in Missippi. He noticed a Pickup Truck pulling a Hay Wagon with hand made political campaign signs hanging from the sides. The First 4x8 read " Jim Garrison for Congress. Working for whites, not for niggers!" The second 4x8 was a Confederate Flag.

My friend lives in Tennessee and has shared other observations of open racisim in the south. I wanted to share this with DUer's because I feel this example illustrates that racism is not dead. I wish it were.

Should the Democratic Party push forward the Presidential Nominations of Qualified Persons who can not hope to win a southern state? I think most of us would like to see someone other than a white guy in the Oval Office. I think the GOP is eager to see the nomination of Obama or Hilary with the tought it would hand them the election.

I don't know what the answers are, but I wanted to read some opinions from DUer's

[FrenchieCat]

1. The question should be, are Voters ready to put Democrats back

in control of anything....like the House and the Senate?

Your question can wait, far as I'm concerned...cause if we don't win this election, it will show that Voters aren't ready for Democrats, let alone Black ones for President or otherwise! :eyes:

[greblc]

5. Good point.

I hope the Democratic Leadership can keep the momentum going.

[Imagevision]

2. Don't have to ba a racist - Diebold has an unbeatable method works everytime

[whistle]

3. By definition the question answers itself, and therefore black candidates

...as well as female candidates need to run for president regardless of what racists or bigots or sexists feel about it.

[dchill]

4. They're not even ready...

for a non-prejudiced white man who has actually been elected to be president. So - no.

[keta11]

6. Sadly, no.

[AllieB]

7. There are racists all over America

not just in the South. The difference is that perhaps people feel more comfortable expressing it in Tennessee than they do in New Hampshire, but nonetheless it's just as virulent.

[theoldman]

8. I do not think a black person has a chance of being president.

The red states are against people who are not white and not Christian. That is why it is a joke to even suggest that Rice run for president. I do not think that Obama would fare much better. His life would be threated just like Colin Powell was.

[HockeyMom]

9. Then Condi would have 2 strikes against her?

Black and Female.

[Thickasabrick]

26. Zackly. No way a woman or a non-white looking person could

get elected. Maybe in 10 years when the hard core bigots are dead.

[cboy4]

10. The guy with the "nigger" sign is part of the "base" the GOP depends

on.

So they would tell him they disapprove of his racist sign with a wink and a smile.

That's so unbelievable someone would openly drive around with that sign.

Around where I live, you would get shot on the freeway.

Don't know if America is ready....I doubt it.

Certainly, at least one person in Mississippi would vote no.:eyes:

[TygrBright]

11. No, racists aren't ready, but they never will be...

...that's part of being racists. The question now is, how many racists are there who would switch parties if "their" party ran an African American candidate, and would that be enough to throw the election to the other party?

So, how many racists have been reliably voting Democratic since 1965?

How many "swing voters" who occasionally vote Democratic are racists?

Could the Democrats win an election without racists?

God I hope so.

I'd like to think so.

In fact, I believe so.

firmly,
Bright

[Clark2008]

12. And there's racism everywhere.

The difference between the North and the South is that, in the South, it's blatant, so people know where and how to fight it. In the North, people try to hide it under the rug and it's harder to battle.

But, to answer your question: Yes, I think America is ready for a president of color, but do I think they'll vote for someone who is of color? No.

[Not a moonbat]

17. I grew up in Boston ...

and I live near Atlanta. Racism was much more blatant up there.

[Clark2008]

18. That's what my husband just said.

He's from Boston, as well.

[gully]

13. Racists don't vote for Democrats generally speaking

so I don't really give a shit. The racists who voted for Bush like Condi Rice it seems?

[Jack Rabbit]

14. No, but there;s no reason to expect the Storm Front gang to ever be ready

They are lost souls.

[lastknowngood]

15. no

[Radical Activist]

16. It doesn't matter if they're ready.

Nominating a black person for President will do two things to help us win. First, black turnout will increase enough to make several Southern states competitive no matter what white racists do. The Democratic Party has never realized the full potential of high voter turn out among african-americans.

Second, the actions of white racists will horrify moderate whites. Even those who may have some subtle inner racism will be shocked at what the overt racists will do and may very well support a black candidate to distance themselves from that kind of behavior. The extreme racists will in effect be our allies by driving white moderates to the black Democratic nominee.

That's how a black person will win.

[greblc]

19. I like you line of thought.

There aren't many oppourtunities to throw it all on the table. Does the Democratic Leadership have the Brass to do it?

[Radical Activist]

20. No, they don't.

But the primary voters might.

[Thickasabrick]

27. People who never vote would vote against a non-white person.

You underestimate the bigots in this country - I think they are quite numerous and something like this would bring them out of their holes.

What would be really cool is if Condi was the republican candidate and Obama was the democratic candidate.

When the bigots were faced with that choice - they would probably go with the man - or stay home out of frustration.

[beaconess]

28. And lots of people who never vote will vote FOR the non-white person

[Thickasabrick]

29. True. I'm really hoping that's the case in Tennessee. We'll see

[Radical Activist]

32. That's what will put Arkansas and Louisiana in play

Maybe some other Southern states. Michigan won't even be a swing state like it was last time. Obama would win it easy. White people already vote at a higher rate than black people so we have more to gain than we have to lose.

[Doctor_J]

21. No, but they'll get over it

Edit: WIth the animosity the GOP's been fostering for 14 years, the civil war's right around the corner anyway. Let's get it on.

[stella]

22. American Presidents are all lily white ,so far

no Italian, French, Jewish, Greek, Polish even got to be VP.

Am I wrong?

[amandabeech]

33. We've had Irish and Dutch.

Kennedy was Irish Catholic. Reagan had Irish ancestry but was Protestant. You probably remember from American history class that the Irish were a hated minority in the 19th century and were not considered "lily white," or, more accurately, WASP. I would expect that a president whose ancestry was southern or eastern European will come along in the next few years--probably a late baby-boomer or the child of an early boomer.

Both Roosevelts and Van Buren were of Dutch ancestry, descended from early Dutch settlers in New York. Most of the Dutch were Protestant, though, and now are probably considered to be semi-WASP.

[RapidCreek]

23. He's not an African American

any more that I am a German American or a French American....Is he an African immagrant? No. Would you call a white man whose parents were South African an African American...I wonder. He, if you find it neccesary to segragate him, is a black American....or more properly a mullato American.

RC

[BoneDaddy]

24. Simply PUT

Qualified does not necessarily mean viable.

Sometimes the most qualified simply don't have the political clout, the majority backing and a chance outside of the democratic party.

Acknowledging this fact does not make one a racist, it makes them a realist who understands, unfortunately, what sells.

For instance some really wonderful "products" (hate to use that term but it is the language) don't sell regardless of how good they are. There are many factors that go into selling something.

GW is the marketing equivalent of the pet rock. Totally unsellable in reality but when worked on by the dark wizards of the GOP, he can, miraculously become someone he is not.

It is a fucking game and we need to learn how to play it and not be stupid. And stupid would be taking a huge risk to elect what has previously been unelectable. That needs to be done when we have a good hold on the country...
That is the priority. Win the House or Senate, or both and then win the presidency.

[joeygirl]

25. As much as we don't want to acknowledge it, racism is always

going to exist. It can make us all warm and fuzzy to talk about diversity, but the truth is that some people just don't buy into it. The question is can we marginalize it and say that it's unacceptable regardless of whether you are black, white, green, or purple.

Most people I talk to want a real choice between the Republicats, and Demopublicans. It's all about resonating with the middle and they tend to be more conservative than us, but more liberal than the fundies.

Most the people I hang out with really, truly don't care about gender or color, they care if someone is able to do the job and can express themselves well.

I would consider voting for Obama, not because he's black, but because he has interesting ideas. But who is he running against? We don't know yet! You have to give people more that "this is the black man for president" "this is the woman for president". So What? What makes them a good candidate? Why should we pick them over someone else? What do they support? Do they support your belief system?

[beaconess]

31. I'm fully aware that racism is alive and well

But we also have the forces to counter it and should preemptively kowtow to them by allowing them to scare us out of running a black candidate for fear that they'll defeat him.

This is the very essence and purpose of institutional racism and I can't urge strongly enough that people not fall for it. Institutional racism enables the perpetuation of racism without anyone having to do any affirmative racist act. By being skittish about running an otherwise highly qualified Black candidate because of our own fear that his race might lead to his defeat means that we are doing the racists work for them, giving them exactly the result they want without them having to do a damned thing (and allowing them to claim innocence when called on it). If we use this approach, we will NEVER get further than we are now because there will always be racism and always be racists. We overcome this by not allowing them to dictate how the rest of us are going to live.

[ContraCommando]

30. A confederate flag here and there, but nothing like that...

Today a friend of mine was driving down the interstate in Missippi. He noticed a Pickup Truck pulling a Hay Wagon with hand made political campaign signs hanging from the sides. The First 4x8 read " Jim Garrison for Congress. Working for whites, not for niggers!" The second 4x8 was a Confederate Flag

That’s wild. I was in Alabama for quite some time and never saw anything remotely similar to that - but maybe that’s just me.

[daysleeper]

34. Never Ready

There is unfortunately always going to be racists and they will never be ready for a black president so there really is no good time. If the man is qualified then I say the Dems should go for it.

[Strawman]

35. Unfortunately I have no faith that they are, but it still might be a worthy effort

And it's not the old fashioned, blatant racists that you mention that are the true barrier. They are dwindling in numbers. It's the more subtle form of "modern racism" present pretty much everywhere in the country that will stand in the way. At the end of the day, will that suburban, white, swing voter who attends to political issues only a little bit around election time set their subtle prejudices aside and vote for an African-American? I don't think they will at this point in our history.

But the implications of that conclusion are not so clear cut. I don't know if it will ever feel like it's going to be an easy thing to accomplish, and if we wait to nominate a fully qualified African-American candidate for President just because we feel they are not electable, there's something wrong with that. That doesn't sit well with me. There's something to be said for the long-term societal returns of using such a campaign to accomplish needed social change and to change the public consciousness for the better.