An answer to the "why are all the black people voting for Obama" question

EffieBlack

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Wed May-07-08 08:45 PM
Original message

An answer to the "why are all the black people voting for Obama" question

Edited on Wed May-07-08 09:15 PM by EffieBlack

This question continually comes up - in some instances, it is being raised as a genuine question, in others, it is being used to divide and diminish voters.

I address this response to those who ask the question in good faith. If you intend to engage in race-baiting and divisive rhetoric, this is not for you.

First, it is an error to automatically assume that because blacks are voting for Obama in significantly different percentages than whites, it is the black vote that should be questioned. It is just as valid to inquire why white voters are only voting for him in the 40 percent range.

Second, the very strong support for Obama in the black community does have a racial component to it, but not the component that many people are assuming. One of the primary reasons that Obama is getting a large black vote is that, far from being biased toward him because he is black, black voters are not biased against him because he is black. In other words, black voters are much more likely to view him with an open mind and not through all manner of color prisms that most blacks are filtered through when being judged by whites. Black voters are looking at him objectively, color-blindly - the way that it is assumed that white voters view white candidates.

For example, as I have repeatedly noted, white Democratic presidential candidates have gotten 99% of the white primary vote where black candidates were also running, yet this demographic has rarely been accused of "monolithic bloc-voting." They are just assumed to be casting a racially-neutral vote when they vote overwhelmingly for candidates of their own race.

On the other hand, white voters are viewing Obama less objectively and are setting up various "hurdles" of acceptability that he must clear before they will feel comfortable trusting him with their vote - hurdles that they do not set up for white candidates. This is not necessarily racist or bigoted or even wrong. It is simply that white voters are not as familiar with blacks and, in many cases, aren't sure about Obama, since they may not have been exposed to many African American politicians in this context. The fact that Obama's support among whites is growing, not lessening, shows that the more white voters learn about him, the more comfortable they become with him and the more likely they are to vote for him. That is the very essence of social growth.

Conversely, black voters are very used to white candidates - and white folks in general. This is and always has been a common fact of life in America since many whites can go through their entire lives without having any meaningful interactions with or significant exposure to blacks; most blacks, on the other hand, cannot go through a day without being exposed to, indeed immersed in, white culture. So we are very comfortable voting for white candidates - since that's pretty much all we've had to choose from. But we are JUST as at ease voting for black candidates, if we believe they are qualified. And we're very discerning and savvy and don't throw away our precious and hard-won votes on candidates just because they share our skin color.

So, when black voters line up to vote for Obama, we are not voting race, we're voting our interests, just like every other sophisticated voting demographic. But it's been easier for us to assess whether or not he is a good candidate because we were not hung up on superficialities like his skin color. We already know people like him. While to many white Americans, Obama seems to be a very unusual black person - an anomaly - most black folk know plenty of men and women just like him - smart, highly-educated, accomplished, and, yes, articulate. (You don't hear black folk walking around marveling, "He's so ARTICULATE!" We're more likely to say, "Of COURSE the brother's articulate. You think Harvard's giving out law degrees to Boo Boo the Fool?") He reminds us of our brothers and sons and husbands and uncles and cousins and teachers and mentors and neighbors and friends. But these men are often invisible to the larger white society, whose perspectives of black men are all-too-often shaped by the cramped and distorted images they see on television.

So, while the black support for Obama has a racial context, it is not racist. Black voters are not voting for him because he is black. We are just better able, because of our own experiences, to look at him objectively DESPITE his race. His race doesn't blind us to his qualities. We don't have to see past his race to get to who he is. He never had to TRANSCEND his race in order for us to connect with him. In fact, among black voters, Obama is working on a level playing field.

One of the beauties of this primary season is that voters are being exposed to something new and are demonstrating that they are indeed ready to consider an African American (and a woman) with an open mind. The fact that it may take some longer than others to get to that point is not a problem - people learn and reach their comfort levels at different paces.

This is why I resisted so strongly when people insisted that "America isn't ready for a black president." I know that people aren't ready until they get ready. And they get ready by learning and growing through interaction, contact and exposure. This campaign has enabled the voters to do that and, for that reason, it has been a beautiful thing to see.