Will Race Determine the Race?

And black has become a beautiful color--not because it is loved

but because it is feared.

-Author James Baldwin--The Fire Next Time

Will race play a role in this presidential election?  According to a recent survey by Stanford University, with the Associated Press and Yahoo, Sen. Obama's support would be about six percentage points higher if he were white.  That is pretty significant knowing that the upcoming election could be incredibly close.  We know that racism is institutional and structural.  It is embedded in our everyday lives whether we want to admit it or not.  Look at corporate America for instance:  Less than 1% of corporate executives in the private sector are Latino.  Even further, less than 2% of corporate board members are Latino.  You look at our educational institutions and the stark differences in achievement between whites and non-whites.  Poverty rates and health disparities between whites and non-whites provide further evidence that the playing field in America is not close to being level or equitable.  

What is even scarier is that racism now manifests itself as a reflexive fear of the unknown--an unconscious bias based on how we have been conditioned socially.  So, when you hear Gov. Sarah Palin on the campaign trail referring to Sen. Obama as someone that is "not one of us," essentially what she is doing is eliciting a collective fear of the unknown.  Is it overt racism? Certainly not.  However, it's even more dangerous because it is veiled in campaign rhetoric aimed at scaring you to death about the Democratic candidate--skin color included.  

We saw this earlier in the election when strategists were trying to connect Sen. Obama--primarily because of his name--to Muslim extremists, even though he has continually professed his belief in Christianity.  Just this week, Sen. Obama appeared on a New York county ballot as "Osama." A simple key stroke mistake perhaps? Well, the presidential ballot is not overly weighted with candidates.  So, I don't think proofreading would be that difficult.  Maybe, its just me.....

The idealist in all of us would like to think that we would be voting in November based on the issues:  The candidates' plans to rescue our failing economy; providing health care for all; strengthening entitlements for baby boomers; ending the war in Iraq; and bringing diplomacy to heal the global wounds of the current administration.  Let's just hope that skin color is not one of the issues we are basing our decisions on.