2008.03.11
Not as simple as black and white
Would I be wrong to assume your support of Obama is because he is African American? -- Feb. 28 e-mail from a Hillary Clinton supporter
Inevitably, the question would come up.
Barack Obama, the presidential candidate who just last year was the subject of headlines asking whether he was black enough, has become a favorite of black voters.
Apparently, that bothers some white folks.
An Associated Press analysis on the front page of Monday's Roanoke Times found that some analysts believe Obama's heavy black support "is nudging some working-class white Democrats into Clinton's camp."
It doesn't help that the wife of the candidate whom blacks supported in 1992 and 1996 is now subtly using a black candidate's race against him to attract white voters to her.
The fact that Obama has benefited from a high turnout of black voters should suggest nothing other than that blacks want change, too. Obama has touched people in a way that some say they haven't seen since John F. Kennedy. I've come to realize that sometimes, intangibles are immeasurable. The abilities to inspire and to lead are two of those.
I do not for one minute diminish what Hillary Clinton has achieved in her life. But she points to her vast experience. Living in the White House for eight years doesn't automatically qualify her to run the country.
She points to health care as a signature issue. Her heart was in the right place on health care, but she couldn't deliver.
Many black people still think fondly of Bill Clinton. But his wife's campaign is alienating many others.
Certainly, race is a part of many blacks' decision to vote for Obama. They look with pride to an Ivy League-educated man who attracts them to a political process that for too long has largely ignored them.
They see a man who is married to a strong and equally smart black woman and the mother of his children, altering the portrait too often painted of black families.
But if race were the key factor, then Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would have gotten a heck of a lot more black votes in presidential primaries during years past.
Obama's power is that he unites a broad spectrum of people who want change. Blacks are among them.
We, too, are sick and tired of the eight years of economic and foreign policy backsliding under the Bush administration.
Just like whites, we're tired of Bush's spending money and the rest of us working stiffs picking up the tab or knowing that our grandkids will have to do so.
Yes, black people were slow -- and I'm no exception -- to embrace the viability of Obama's candidacy.
Blacks were wary that detractors would use his perceived shortcomings as an excuse for not supporting him. In recent weeks, Hillary Clinton has made that a key part of her campaign strategy.
But for me, and I believe for many black Americans, Iowa was the turning point. At that moment, we saw that Barack Obama was a viable candidate among white voters as well. We realized he had a chance. No one knows whether Obama will win his party's nomination, and if he does, whether he'll be elected. If nothing else, he has stirred voters in a way that hasn't been seen in decades.
Trish Boyd, who is a Roanoke Valley foot soldier for Obama's campaign, heard early from blacks that voting for him would be a waste of a vote.
They're not saying that anymore.
Does that answer the question?
Shanna Flowers' column appears on Sundays, Tuesdays and Thursdays.
Shanna, well said! It is apparent that blacks are not the only ones that seek change. I have met all kinds of people, black, white, republican and democrats that feel he's our best choice.We all appreciate Senator Obama's intelligence and his diversity. He has a much needed ability to crossover all party lines to help unite us as a country and throughout the world.I do not support him because he's black. Nor do I think that white women support Hillary because she's white. The bottom line is I believe Senator Obama is our best choice for President and he just happens to be black.
Comment by Trish Boyd — March 11, 2008 @ 12:23 pm
Well I am not for either of the Democratic candidates, but if I had to choose on principles let's look at he meaning of:
Morality (from the Latin moralitaser "manner, character, proper behavior") has three principal meanings.
In its first descriptive usage, morality means a code of conduct held to be authoritative in matters of right and wrong, whether by society, philosophy, religion, or individual conscience.
In its second, normative and universal sense, morality refers to an ideal code of conduct, one which would be espoused in preference to alternatives by all rational people, under specified conditions. To deny 'morality' in this sense is a position known as moral skepticism.
In its third usage 'morality' is synonymous with ethics, the systematic philosophical study of the moral domain and values.
Since Hillary and Bill Clinton will say anything for a vote for pure power and control I would vote for Obama.
But raising taxes isn't the answer either I like the ideal of the Fair Tax.
Comment by Static — March 11, 2008 @ 1:31 pm
Excellent article, I think we are much deeper than selecting a candidate based on race alone. We look beyond race, gender or religion to determine who is best qualified to be the commander-and-chief of this great nation. I believe it is a good commentary for our nation when we as a people judge our candidates on there qualifications, policies, their character and their judgement to make the right decsions on what is best for all Americans. We are truly becoming a nation under God where all people are created equal and it's an opportunity for all us to live the American dream. I see Senator Obama as this opportunity for change and making it all reality. MAY GOD BLESS AMERICA!
Comment by Pastor, Gary Holland — March 11, 2008 @ 3:49 pm
Anyone ever wonder how a "Goldwater girl" could attend an MLK speech and be so moved by hearing MLK speak that she went home and deepened her involvement with republican (and at the time, anti-civil rights) movements? bull!
Hillary was probably never at the MLK event. liar!
Comment by Static — March 12, 2008 @ 10:48 pm
Shanna
What did you think of Pat Buchanan emotional outburst of shut up last night?
Besides tacky, to me this goes to still widening racial divide created by the Clinton's.
didn't c it. will have to check into it.
Comment by Backlash — March 13, 2008 @ 11:58 am
Clinton's foreign policy claims?
Who believe her anyway? Living in the white house for 8 years is not experience.
If so then the cook maid and marine guards have as much as her.
Remember the telephone interview a week ago when her aids were asked this question................Total silence then in the whispers the aids can be heard saying..."What do we say"?
When you ask Clintons supporters about this they say we don't care we are still voting for her.
And we wonder why the country is in such a disarray. 3 simple reasons.
1) No Accountability
2) Don't want responsibility
3) No Morals
Comment by Static — March 15, 2008 @ 11:41 am
Ms. Flowers, don't the statistics show that race and gender are the overwhelming factors driving Obama and Clinton outcomes?
http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/01/25/race.genderpolitics/index.html
certainly, we can't ignore the influence, but the purpose of the column was to show that blacks should not be accused of voting for barack solely because of race.--s
Comment by Jim — March 19, 2008 @ 2:44 pm