Black Republicans likely to vote for Obama.

[Zenmaster]

http://politicalticker.blogs.cnn.com/2008/06/14/black-conservatives-weigh-voting-for-obama/

I wrote something similar about this on this blog, but I think its worth discussion. There are a lot of people (anti-Obama people in particular, but even some Obama-fans) that are claiming its racism for blacks to vote for Obama because he's black.

I'm not black, and I'm not voting for Obama because of his race, but with that said this claim really doesn't understand what racism is. Racism is a pretty specific thing that is based on discrimination. It doesn't apply in this instance at all.

For our 230+ year history there has not been a serious black candidate for president. This is not because a black person couldn't do the job, but because not enough people would have ever voted for one, because of his/her race. I would also say that it was also not sexist for women to vote for Hillary for that same reason, though I think the issue is much deeper with blacks than with women, because of our history.

However, there are plenty of race-based reasons to vote for a black candidate. And they aren't racist. If you believe that its worthwhile to America, for young black kids to have a role model in the highest level of our government, rather than just the athletes and rappers that have served as too many role models for them for the past few decades, that is perfectly valid. Its not racist to vote, or do things, to help people of a particular race.

Also, if you believe that our International image would be improved with a person of color as our Commander in Chief, that is a perfectly valid (non-racist)reason, dealing with race, to vote for a person of color. The reality is that our country has been looked at with distrust, and often much worse, around the world in no small part because of our strained race relations and the inequality that we've had in this country of the years. In the 50's and 60's the Soviets used our own race problems as propaganda against us in the spread of Communism. During the Little Rock de-segregation violent episodes, they sent out video and propaganda to other countries to show them how poorly America treated non-whites. Considering that most of the world is non-white, this is no small issue.

Barak Obama is, no doubt, such a big international phenomenon because of this. The rest of the world see it as a sign of America changing for the better.

And yes, its because of his race.

No...its not "racist".

[anonymous171]

1. Yep. It's called "Identity Politics." nt

[MadMaddie]

2. I am Black and I am voting for Obama because he is

definitly the best candidate for the US.

I can't pretend to know what Black Republicans are thinking because I don't get them at all. But for their own survival I think that they have to vote for Obama.

[goclark]

23. Ditto

and I know several Black Republicans. :(

One can hardly pay her car note and has always voted Republican because "they know how to take care of your money."

Others are former military and love to salute the flag etc.

One is a former police officer ~ most of these people believe in "following the rules" so CHANGE scares them to death.

They don't dislike Obama and they don't particularly like Bush but they like the idea of voting Republican. I believe they think being a Republican makes you better than a Democrat.

:crazy:

[knixphan]

32. seconded.

And seconded on the 'I don't get black republicans' as well.

[rock]

3. Both of them?

:)

[QueenOfCalifornia]

4. You stole my

post.

Damn it.

:rofl:

What about the log cabin Republican's - they are even freakier. What is up with that?

I am gay and I want to vote against myself????

[MadMaddie]

25. That's another group i don't get....do they really think they are

accepted by the Republicans?

[CarbonDate]

29. Must be an obvious joke.

I was going to go there myself. :+

[BlooInBloo]

11. Dammit - knew I shoulda read the thread first. I fail.

[Cha]

19. Armstrong Jones, Bob Johnson,

Colin Powell, Condi Rice, :shrug:

[Hippo_Tron]

37. My first thought was "Well, that's two more votes for Obama"

[Bucky]

5. Nice try, but any "race-based reasons to vote for a black candidate" are by definition racist.

It's racial discrimination, pure and simple. Race never was and never can be a determination of who is more qualified to be president. Diversity is nice, but if we have a true meritocracy in a diverse society, we will have diversity.

Barack Obama's racial background has, no doubt, added to the experiences that will make him a good president. And certainly his experiences have shaped the man that he is. But you vote for the man that the experiences make, not the category that got some asshole in his past to treat him differently.

Goddamn, but it remains true: any time you bring up the subject of race, Americans turn into a gaggle of mewling, sputtering dumbfucks. If you want to make a group of Americans act retarded, simply bring up the subject of race: it is our kryptonite.

[roseBudd]

8. I happen to believe Hillary's claims of 35 years of experience to be hyperbole

POTUS is not decided by merit, it is decided by voting, in a series of primaries and caucuses over a period of months and then by a vote in all 50 states which have a number of electors based on population.

The candidate who claims to have the most and bestest experience does not get annointed.

[Zenmaster]

9. Wrong

That is not the definition of racist.

If that were true, it would be racist to choose to go into a black community, to do charity work.

Voting for Barak Obama because he's black is not the same as discriminating against John McCain, because he's white.

Your goal in voting for a president should be to choose who YOU THINK is going to help the country the most. Barak Obama's race, like it or not, is a factor in how the rest of the world will perceive us. Imagine if, for example, John McCain and Barak Obama had the EXACT same policy plans for everything, and did EVERYTHING in the exact same way, except for their race.

America would still be a stronger country, under Obama, because of the benefit of the international perception. Therefore race would be the determining factor in who would be a better choice for president. If you want to argue that the rest of the world's perception of us, because of that, is racist well that's a different argument.

Of course the reality is that they are very different, policy-wise, so race can only be one factor among a multitude.

You are right, that Americans struggle to talk about race. But, it is something that we do still need to be able to talk honestly about.

[Tom Rinaldo]

12. "Racial" yes, but I'm not sure about "Racist"

I don't care if I lose this debate over a silly technicality, like a literal definition of the words, lol. But in order to capture the intended meaning of words as we actually use them, I think "racist" implies antagonism against people based on race. It implies negative treatment based on race. In an electoral sense that would mean voting against someone because of their race, that would be a racist act; "Discriminating against based on race." Being influenced to vote for someone due to their race may technically be "racist", but it has a different energy to it. It reflects racial politics, certainly, but not racist politics in the way that I have grown accustomed to that word. If Catholics rallied to JFK because he was a fellow Catholic, was than "anti" other religions? If Italian Americans turn out to support anther Italian American where fellow Italian Americans seldom have a realistic chance of getting elected, is that racist? What if the Italian American is running against a W.A.S.P, making both candidates "white"? Does that make ethnic solidartiy simply ethnic pride and not racism?

[Zenmaster]

16. Exactly

Racisim is about discrimination against someone. Race, religion, ethnicity, etc is going to be a valid thing for people to vote for in this country until there is much much more uniformity.

Catholics voting for a Catholic believe that candidate will care about the issues and advance the causes that are important to catholics. That's not discriminating.

Blacks voting for a black candidate believe that the candidate will care about the issues and advance the causes that are important to blacks.

The fact that Catholics/Blacks/Women/Latinos/Asians/Mormons/Italians/Whatevers is this country have different issues as causes might be a concern and warrant a completely different discussion about things, but voting for them because you believe they will understand and advance causes that concern you is not racism in the least.

The fact that a Black Republican might believe that a Black Democrat would do more to advance the causes that are important to him, than a Republican might say something negative about the state of race in our country, but its not a racist reason for him to vote for him.

[beachmom]

20. Well, it is the most logical to choose the BEST CANDIDATE. Period.

But I do think that most African Americans will vote for Obama, even many Republican AAs. I don't see a problem with that, since it is out of pride. They would not have voted for him, if they didn't think he stood a chance.

[BlooInBloo]

24. Pfft. Everybody knows it's not possible for black folks to vote for the best person....

Everybody knows that black folks just stand by black folks no matter what.

I know this because white folks tell me so.

[beachmom]

39. Um, you completely don't get what I said. They also think he is the best candidate,

BUT they also vote for him out of pride. Nothing wrong with that.

[BlooInBloo]

43. Sarcasm tags are for idiots.

[lojasmo]

33. That's simply foolish.

It's not racism, nor is it reverse racism. We are at a historic point. I think it's exciting that we're about to have our first black president. I'm sure that my black brothers and sisters are even more enthusiastic. If ALL ELSE were equal.

I would vote for Obama simply because he's black. (I'm white, does that make me racist?)

Fortunately, there are many other reasons to choose Obama over McCain.

[Exilednight]

38. The only group that uses acknowledges that as racism is rethugs. It's another attempt ......

of neocons attempting to rewrite the dictionary.

[roseBudd]

6. Blacks have been voting for every white candidate with a D after their name in overwhelming

percentages since the Civil Rights Act.

Some of the whites in WV & KY who voted for Hillary have never voted for a black candidate.

[calimary]

7. Welcome to DU!

I'm white and female and middle-aged. And Barack is The One! Barack the House - the WHITE HOUSE, that is!

[BlooInBloo]

10. All 3 of them?

[crankychatter]

14. u beat me - nt

[BlooInBloo]

15. We were both beat by #3. :(

[crankychatter]

13. BOTH of them? - nt

[grantcart]

17. I wonder what the AA " republican pundits" are going to do as this becomes more and more

obvious that one is unfit for the job and one is one of the most intelligent to ever run for it.

[ladeyday]

42. What does Joe Watkins say? Ugh

Or J.C. (the let me show them you love blacks guy) Watts

[beachmom]

18. Colin Powell hasn't ruled out voting for Obama, and I bet all of you

a sum of money, that unless she is tapped as VP (doubtful, anyway), Condi Rice will very secretly vote for Obama, too. Remember she defended Obama when he gave that speech on race. I just think it will happen in the voting booth, no matter what she says publicly.

[Zenmaster]

21. I think this election is going to be hard to poll

I could definitely see a lot of blacks vote for Obama in the booth, but not admit to it. Likewise I think there will be white democrats that will not pull the trigger on Obama, even if they say they will. And I think there will be Hillary supporters who will say they are straying no matter what, but vote for Obama anyway once in the booth.

I think this will be one of the most inaccurate polling years.

[PurityOfEssence]

22. Amid all the cocksure pronouncements, it's nice to hear this

I don't see this as very predictable at all. What people will say in public is quite different than what they'll do when alone in the booth with the curtain drawn. This is one of the many reasons why caucuses are just plain silly.

We are very vulnerable, and not enough people seem to understand that.

[beachmom]

26. Not true. There was always at least one primary polling outfit that got a state right.

If anything, Obama always improved on whatever the initial polls were that came out.

[Renaissance Man]

27. Yahoo News Article.

Here's a good Yahoo! news article about black conservatives and how some of them are defecting to Sen. Obama.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20080614/ap_on_el_pr/black_conservatives_obama

[MaraJade]

28. Because he is black. . .

and they feel as if they must help him make history (or some such useless nonsense).

They are STUPID people. And I don't buy that dumb role model stuff. MLK was a role model
years before Obama. MLK worked his magic under conditions that were far more onerous.

And before you accuse me of being some sort of racist, you need to stop. I am black, an African
American woman and a direct descendant of two men who fought with the 54th Massachusetts Colored
Infantry in the Civil War.

[CarbonDate]

30. Possibly more to it than that....

Could be that they're simply tired of being neglected by the party whose policy views they otherwise support and wish to make a statement.

[jonestonesusa]

36. Being black doesn't exempt a person from being racist

since racism can be internalized - it's part of social structure, and it's easy to observe the effects of internalized racism in interactions between people within the African American community. I'm sure you know this.

I don't think it's stupid to want the face of power in America to look like America. Martin Luther King was a great leader - had courage and wisdom, accomplished much. But we can't spend the rest of our national history idealizing his leadership and neglecting the present. No single individual can solve huge enduring social problems such as racial inequality - King had his day, all too brief, and the present is ours.

A black leader who is willing to run for the highest office is courageous, given that it's an accomplishment that none has reached so far and it meets with a level of acrimony that many of us will never experience, directed at the candidate and his family in this case. I respect Obama greatly for the effort, and to do it with the level of dignity and success that he's had so far deserves our congratulations and support.

[barack the house]

31. I totally agree it's just the appropriate move at the right time in history but with the right ...

person. It couldn't of been powell or condi. Obama has something extra.

[ellacott]

40. And that's what makes this election different

It had to be the right person. Many people aren't looking at the big picture. It's just because he's black. If that were the case Jessie Jackson, Al Sharpton and Carol Mosely Braun would have gotten more votes. Barack Obama is a different candidate.

[Imagevision]

34. With the choice being McBush or Obama --- small wonder why to vote for Obama?

[Colobo]

35. Come on over, folks. The Obama train welcomes everyone that wants to rescue America

from the Republicans.

[ladeyday]

41. Well, I choose Obama because of race

HRC was my candidate before Barack declared, but then it became an even field & I had to choose. My decision was based on the fact that me being a woman did not cause my mother to have us step down in the gutter when white person was about to pass (NYC 50's), my redheaded sister saying to her Creole friend "We could have passed if it wasn't for her (me, the brown skinned one) (NYC 50's), my female supervisor being made to eat in another dining room while in nursing school (VA 60's), a waitress to leave dirty plates in front of me not my whit female companion (NC '64), a C&W bar asking mixed copule to leave (MD '65), my calling a gathering to ask if I would be welcome due to my race (NYC early '70's) a white woman to clutch her purse under her arm & to cross the street as my 14 year old son & I approached her on the side walk (how times changed! NYC 1980), when researching relocating, my asking an AZ realtor in hot ppursuit if there was a problem wwith my race & never hearing from her again (1992), a co-worker telling ME (the nerve!) she is thinking of moving out of the country if Obama is elected (NM 6/08). and this is all pretty mild compared to others' experiences who went into less racially/gender free professions (I'm a registered nurse). No,there ain't NOTHING to compare to racism, not even sexism.