If McCain-Palin are elected what is the reality of the chance of an AA president?

[BobG]

I'd like you all to go take this test. It takes about 10-15 minutes and they ask a lot of questions, it is anonymous.
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/"
Click on the demonstration. and then take a demo test or something like that. Then pick The Ethnic test
I think some of you are bigots and don't even know it. I'll take it too.
I have a "moderate" preference for whites over blacks. I'm white so I can understand why.

I had a slight automatic preference for Obama.

I'd almost say running for President requires a person to be almost cultureless, except that neutral style is usually associated with whites since they're more prevalent in politics and business.

A white trash redneck might not fare much better than someone dragging along a rapper image (although some might say we're about to find out).

 

[TheStatutoryApe]

No, I think Obama should run as an American. And yes, I do think that it is possible. I think if the first time someone asked him about it in an interview, if he angrily responded that "I'm not an African American, I'm an American' (like Tiger Woods did), the issue would largely not be a part of the election. No, you're missing my point, Evo. This isn't about what we should label people - it is about not labeling people. Why do we need to label him at all except in a single line in a history book?

Its a nice ideal and, idealistically, I agree. Realistically though people will make it an issue no matter what he does. I doubt that there were a whole lot of black people out at the golf courses that had been waiting all their lives to see a negro play golf. I just don't see that as being something that is particularly important to many people. The presidency on the, other hand, is major. NO ONE would let Obama ignore the fact that he would be the first black president and in fact he would likely only incense a great number of his constituents by ignoring it seeing as how many are already leary of him because they believe he is too white washed. I just don't see any way around it. People label people. Its part of how our brains work so it will take a lot to undo the programing.

 

[Evo]

It would be similar to Hillary claiming to be running as just another candidate for President and refuse to be labled a woman.

We just aren't there as a society, in America. We label people, we classify people, we profile people.

Unfortunately, Obama's color is going to be a deciding factor in a lot of people's votes, both for and against.

 

[tribdog]

If it is about labels maybe I'll run as a black man. From now on I'm a black man running for president. NO! I'll be a black woman running for president.

 

[LowlyPion]

You know when I first read the title for this thread, my first thought was "Does McCain have a drinking problem, or is it Palin?"

 

[NeoDevin]

You know when I first read the title for this thread, my first thought was "Does McCain have a drinking problem, or is it Palin?"

Don't worry, that's what I thought too.

 

[GCT]

This is 2008. In order to get past the concept of race, we need candidates who act like they are above the concept, not candidates who act like this is 1962. My mother is an administrator ad a nursery school. The kids at the school are largely oblivious to the concept of race. They don't know race is an important concept until they are told. Wouldn't this country be a better place if we never told them?

My mother is reading his book. I'll have to get it when she's done. Apparently, it is basically about how he came to choose his identity.

I agree that it's a bit annoying that Obama has deliberately identified himself with the African American community, it does seem that he is playing the race card a bit.

Yet here's a question for every one of you

If you were Obama what kind of church would you affiliate yourself with , assuming Obama's beliefs are legit? Yes there are " mixed " churches out there and they are of the pentacostal denomination , the others even if mixed are not proportionate in representation.

Do we teach about " black " and " white " to our children this day and age? Not that I know of. The US is relatively ignorant to what exactly constitutes the two terms , eventually as these children grow they need to deal with the concept in their own way. The trouble comes from the fact that these terms have inherent connotations ... as the Harvard study demonstrates ( the one posted by Tribdog ). Europe's youth are much better educated on the history of how " blacks " and " whites " came about - that is about their historical connection with Europe and so on. They can identify a mixed person based on facial analysis. Quite frankly they are much better off than us with respect to the " black " and " white " issue. We're dealing with trashy concepts such as " black " and " white " and I sense that this is the problem.

The terms are specifically linked to " good " and " bad " , what else do the children have to go by? If we only had a system that could identify the exact historical ancestry of an individual ... I wonder how that would change the US. Perhaps this would mean more grouping within the caucasians i.e. Irish heritage gathering with the Irish , and yes we've had this problem before.

Education is the key here. Not teaching them is the problem. Children in the US have soley " good " and " bad " to work with.

 

[wildman]

You all realize that you are insinuating white=good/black=bad, don't you? Saying he is black but lives like a white is so insulting. I thought we had more intelligent, less prejudiced people here. To even argue over it is ridiculous, because once a racist always a racist. Even if its just a "closet racist"

You completely misunderstand what I am saying. There is a definite Black Culture within the US. They have their own music, their own life style, own beliefs. This makes them no better or worse than anyone else.

Mr. Obama was simply not raised in the American Black Culture. He is not culturally a Black American. Period. He was raised in a mixture of cultures, but the American White culture was dominate. Does this make him better than anyone else? Of course not. However, he is NOT a Black American culturally. He is a white with dark skin.

As I said before a lot of people raised in the Black American Culture found Obama discomforting for this very reason since people tend to identify with people from their own culture. Whites however immediately identified with him and were comfortable with him for this very reason. Obama is part of their culture.

 

[wildman]

You know when I first read the title for this thread, my first thought was "Does McCain have a drinking problem, or is it Palin?"

That is what I thought too.