Soccer Dad

Frank talk about race

One of the aspects of the presidential campaign that has been commented on a lot is race. It started, perhaps, with the revelation that Sen. Obama's paster, Rev. Jeremiah Wright had made quite a few anti-American and anti-White comments in church. In response Sen. Obama delivered a speech on race in Philadelphia this past March. While the speech was hailed by many, I found it lacking because Sen. Obama didn't take responsibility for failing to react more quickly to his mentor's incendiary words.

But there's another aspect about race that doesn't get much play. Here's a sentence from Eugene Robinson's latest (or here):

I know there's a possibility that white Americans, when push comes to shove, won't be able to bring themselves to elect a black man as president of the United States.

And then there's Jonathan Capeheart's Black Angst:

Yet I still can't allow myself to think for one minute that "they" (the infamous, faceless "they") will let Obama, Michelle and the girls move easily into 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue come January.

So whether it's Robinson's "white Americans" or Capeheart's "they" at fault, we know that if the polls were wrong there will be great bitterness among African Americans at having the prize of the presidency stolen from them. But look at the Gallup:

An Obama victory would also owe a great debt to overwhelming support from racial and ethnic minorities. McCain led among white voters, 51% to 44%, but Obama more than made up for that with an 83% to 13% advantage among non-whites, including a 97% to 1% advantage among blacks and a 73% to 24% lead among Hispanics.

If this is correct, then whites could be blamed for the failure of Barack Obama even though nearly half of the would have voted for a black man. The logic of race relations evades me. If over 90% of blacks will vote for the black candidate it doesn't seem appropriate to saddle whites with the burden of implied racism.

There are of course many reasons not to vote for Sen. Obama. He has precious little relevant experience. He has numerous associates of questionable makeup. He seems to say whatever is necessary to get ahead. His political views are well to the left of the mainstream. And yet, if he loses, or even if the finish is closer than expected it will be white people who will have their virtue questioned.

We do need a frank talk about race this election season. We have not had it yet.