Obama Avoiding Black Neighborhoods on Campaign Trail

Understandable, I guess.

Sen. Barack Obama, D-Ill., has been avoiding stops in black communities in his quest to become the first black major party nominee for the U.S. presidency.

Isaac Onah, a political science professor at the University of North Carolina, told the Boston Globe that black voters appear to understand Obama's campaign strategy.

...

Darryl Carson, a 41-year-old industrial clerk, told the Globe he sees Obama "walking a thin line." He believes other black voters in North Carolina will be there for Obama where it matters, in the voting booth, the newspaper said.

I want your vote, but I can't be seen with you.

I guess I really do get this. The fear of being branded "the black candidate," which, uh, is what he is and what he's been running on. No one's called him the "Tangible, Detailed Policy Proposal" candidate. He's running on "change" and "hope" which would just be even more jejune and empty from a white guy. The change he offers is a black president, and only that, and the hope he offers is that a black president will simply by his existence heal racial wounds. And that's it.

As they say, the medium is the message. Barack Obama, and more specifically his race*, is the medium and the message.

* On his 2000 census form he listed his race as "Other/Lenny Kravitz."

Thanks to dri.

posted by Ace at 04:01 PM

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