Race Race

Political winds are clearly blowing for the Dems this year. By most accounts, John McCain has run an execrable campaign, while Obama has run a near perfect one. So why, Republicans like to ask, is it still a race?

I think that there are about three main threads: conservatism still has powerful appeal to many, the abortion issue is the be all and end all for many (to borrow a phrase from the Sarracuda, and, most importantly, race. Most of the racist sentiment is concentrated in the oldest and least educated Americans, but by no means all.

The relentless popularization of the image of the black gangster culture plays a key role in this. So does the closely related phenomenon of black crime. Italian Americans long suffered from a similar identification. Very few Italian Americans were Mafioso, but the Mafia was (and presumably still is) real and overwhelmingly Italian.

Ethnic stereotypes are unfair, but they usually have at least some basis in culture. No doubt there are dumb Jews and lazy Asians, but the images of accomplishment are nearly as durable as the negative type.

The cure for the negative stereotype is its replacement by positive images, but the positive images have to be real, not fake. Obama is very smart, well-organized, and appears to be tempermentally suited for high responsibility. If he is elected, and is even reasonably successful in the very difficult times we now face, he will change a lot of white prejudice quickly. Even more important, he will change a lot of black people's images of themselves.

Neither of these last two facts is the reason I voted for Obama - I voted for him because I think he is far more qualified than his erratic, impetuous and dishonest opponent. They would certainly be a nice bonus though.

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