Racists for Obama?

By GottaLaff

Via Ben Smith:

New polling and a trickle of stories from the battleground states suggest that Sen. Barack Obama's coalition includes one unlikely group: white voters with negative views of African-Americans. [...]

Anecdotes from across the battlegrounds suggest that there’s a significant minority of prejudiced white voters who will swallow hard and vote for the black man.

It's a crime that these voters even have to think about it, but at least there's a sliver of a silver lining. Bigotry never ceases to astound me. The more I observe the racism in this country, the more baffled I am at how one's epidermal hue (and learned connotations) can generate such hatred.

The notion that there might be “racists for Obama,” as one Democrat called them, comes against the backdrop of a country whose white voters largely accept the notion of a black president.

“The economy is trumping racism,” said Kurt Schmoke, the dean of Howard University Law School and a former Baltimore mayor. “A lot of people who we might think wouldn’t vote their pocketbook because of race — now they are.” [...]

And some argue that elements of Obama’s story and persona make him specifically acceptable to voters who hold broadly negative views of African-Americans.

Does that last sentence bother you the way it bothers me? Obama is the exception. Fine, if it gets him votes, I'm thrilled. But his half-whiteness makes him more qualified than his half-blackness how again? His background and charisma set him apart from the "bad" African Americans why?

“Obama’s personality — his speech, his look — he provides [white voters] with a non-threatening way to move forward on this issue, and that’s a very positive development,” said David Waymire, who led the unsuccessful opposition to the anti-affirmative action initiative. “He is not Kwame Kilpatrick,” he said, referring to the Detroit mayor who resigned last month after pleading guilty in a sex and misconduct scandal.

For black observers of American politics in particular, Obama’s ability to win over voters who harbor negative views of African-Americans at large is a complex, but hopeful, sign.

It is hopeful. Glass half full. But I'm still frustrated and disappointed that so many still can't shake off their fear of anyone who's "different" from them, whether it's people of color, sexual orientation, gender, size, you name it.

But.... if Barack Obama can open the eyes of even a few people, then his election will be more than a victory for Democrats. It will be a victory for progress, brotherhood, and genuine unity.