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1codyed
Matt Bai writes the following in the New York Times Magazine:
The assumption has always been that a black candidate should perform worse among white voters in states with less racial diversity because those voters are supposedly less enlightened. In fact, the reverse has been true for Obama: in the overwhelmingly white states of Wisconsin and Vermont, for instance, he carried 54 and 60 percent of the white voters respectively, according to exit polls, while in New Jersey he won 31 percent and in Tennessee he won 26 percent. As some bloggers have shrewdly pointed out, Obama does best in areas that have either a large concentration of African-American voters or hardly any at all, but he struggles in places where the population is decidedly mixed.
What this suggests, perhaps, is that living in close proximity to other races — sharing industries and schools and sports arenas — actually makes Americans less sanguine about racial harmony rather than more so. The growing counties an hour’s drive from Cleveland and St. Louis are filled with white voters whose parents fled the industrial cities of their youth before a wave of African-Americans and for whom social friction and economic competition, especially in an age of declining opportunity, are as much a part of daily life as traffic and mortgage payments. As Erica Goode wrote in these pages last year, Robert Putnam and other sociologists have, in fact, found that people living in more diverse areas evince less trust for others — no matter what their race. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise us that while white Democrats in rural states are apparently willing to accept the notion of a racially transcendent candidate, those living in the shadow of postindustrial atrophy seem to have a harder time detaching from enduring stereotypes, and they may be less optimistic that the country as a whole would actually elect a black candidate.
The assumption has always been that a black candidate should perform worse among white voters in states with less racial diversity because those voters are supposedly less enlightened. In fact, the reverse has been true for Obama: in the overwhelmingly white states of Wisconsin and Vermont, for instance, he carried 54 and 60 percent of the white voters respectively, according to exit polls, while in New Jersey he won 31 percent and in Tennessee he won 26 percent. As some bloggers have shrewdly pointed out, Obama does best in areas that have either a large concentration of African-American voters or hardly any at all, but he struggles in places where the population is decidedly mixed.
What this suggests, perhaps, is that living in close proximity to other races — sharing industries and schools and sports arenas — actually makes Americans less sanguine about racial harmony rather than more so. The growing counties an hour’s drive from Cleveland and St. Louis are filled with white voters whose parents fled the industrial cities of their youth before a wave of African-Americans and for whom social friction and economic competition, especially in an age of declining opportunity, are as much a part of daily life as traffic and mortgage payments. As Erica Goode wrote in these pages last year, Robert Putnam and other sociologists have, in fact, found that people living in more diverse areas evince less trust for others — no matter what their race. Maybe it shouldn’t surprise us that while white Democrats in rural states are apparently willing to accept the notion of a racially transcendent candidate, those living in the shadow of postindustrial atrophy seem to have a harder time detaching from enduring stereotypes, and they may be less optimistic that the country as a whole would actually elect a black candidate.
2enevada
"Post-industrial atrophy" - a grim, if accurate phrase, that suggests to me that the numbers we are seeing have less to do with race and more with union affiliation.
From the Workers Independent News: 03/04/08
"How important is it for a union’s endorsed candidate to receive the Democratic nod for President? If dollar signs are a good measure, then nearly $8 million over two months. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades spent a combined $3,675,548.10 to support Senator Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Presidency. Not to be outdone, the Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, Unite-Here, and the United Food of Commercial Workers have spent a combined $3,744,131.26 to support Senator Barack Obama. The lion’s share of the spending for Obama can be attributed to the SEIU, who endorsed the candidate in mid-February and have more than $3 million dollars. On Clinton’s side, it is AFSCME pulling the funding weight using more than $2 million to support their candidate and earmarking more than $234,000 for Obama opposition. The AFT isn’t too far behind, pitching in nearly $1.5 million for Clinton support."
As The Nation and recent NPR features illustrate, union support is beginning to shift away from Clinton towards Obama, but that fealty isn't necessarily to the candidate but to the union bosses. I think this more than anything will drive the vote of those "in the shadow of post-industrial atrophy."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=267064
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19304233
But guess what? No matter who is elected, industry isn't coming back.
From the Workers Independent News: 03/04/08
"How important is it for a union’s endorsed candidate to receive the Democratic nod for President? If dollar signs are a good measure, then nearly $8 million over two months. The American Federation of State County and Municipal Employees, the American Federation of Teachers, and the International Union of Painters and Allied Trades spent a combined $3,675,548.10 to support Senator Hillary Clinton’s bid for the Presidency. Not to be outdone, the Service Employees International Union, Teamsters, Unite-Here, and the United Food of Commercial Workers have spent a combined $3,744,131.26 to support Senator Barack Obama. The lion’s share of the spending for Obama can be attributed to the SEIU, who endorsed the candidate in mid-February and have more than $3 million dollars. On Clinton’s side, it is AFSCME pulling the funding weight using more than $2 million to support their candidate and earmarking more than $234,000 for Obama opposition. The AFT isn’t too far behind, pitching in nearly $1.5 million for Clinton support."
As The Nation and recent NPR features illustrate, union support is beginning to shift away from Clinton towards Obama, but that fealty isn't necessarily to the candidate but to the union bosses. I think this more than anything will drive the vote of those "in the shadow of post-industrial atrophy."
http://www.thenation.com/blogs/notion?pid=267064
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=19304233
But guess what? No matter who is elected, industry isn't coming back.
3BGP
"What this suggests, perhaps, is that living in close proximity to other races..."
Of course, Bai comes to a perfectly logical conclusion if one really believes that he or she can develop a practical understanding of race relations based on the results of a single electoral campaign (talk a about a non-falsifiable study).
This deduction is balderdash, to put it mildly...
Of course, Bai comes to a perfectly logical conclusion if one really believes that he or she can develop a practical understanding of race relations based on the results of a single electoral campaign (talk a about a non-falsifiable study).
This deduction is balderdash, to put it mildly...
4Arctic-Stranger
I don't have a study on it, but I have lived in some pretty racially integrated areas, and am amazed when I visit places that were more white bread. (Even Alaska has a fair distribution, although white is predominate...but we have a large native population, and their cultural contributions far exceed their sheer numbers.)
Anyway, I find racism based in areas of proximity to be more focused and less virulent than racism based in areas where there is not proximity. In the south, you KNOW what it is about the other race that you don't like. In Philadelphia, which I found to be much more segregated than North Carolina, the racism I encountered was vicious and highly ignorant.
I suppose that same dynamic could easily be found in people who were not openly racist. They were basing their attitudes toward the other race on what they knew.
Anyway, I find racism based in areas of proximity to be more focused and less virulent than racism based in areas where there is not proximity. In the south, you KNOW what it is about the other race that you don't like. In Philadelphia, which I found to be much more segregated than North Carolina, the racism I encountered was vicious and highly ignorant.
I suppose that same dynamic could easily be found in people who were not openly racist. They were basing their attitudes toward the other race on what they knew.
6AsYouKnow_Bob
Well, with the margin of error, it might actually be -2%....
7Jesse_wiedinmyer
Bad, AYKB! Bad!
8margd
Thoughtful article--excellent, I think--in The Atlantic. Shirley Sherrod is a far more remarkable person than her 15 minutes of fame conveyed:
Fear of a Black President
September 2012 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
As a candidate, Barack Obama said we needed to reckon with race and with America’s original sin, slavery. But as our first black president, he has avoided mention of race almost entirely. In having to be “twice as good” and “half as black,” Obama reveals the false promise and double standard of integration. ...
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/30...
Fear of a Black President
September 2012 ATLANTIC MAGAZINE
By Ta-Nehisi Coates
As a candidate, Barack Obama said we needed to reckon with race and with America’s original sin, slavery. But as our first black president, he has avoided mention of race almost entirely. In having to be “twice as good” and “half as black,” Obama reveals the false promise and double standard of integration. ...
http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/2012/09/fear-of-a-black-president/30...
9Lunar
#8: "Fear of a Democratic President" would be a more apt title. There's definitely a racist tinge to the Republican base, particularly when it comes to stereotypes, but it's so overblown by Democratic shills that to seriously consider it as their deciding factor is just a joke. Democrats fear Republicans and Republicans fear Democrats. That's how the game works and to pretend otherwise is foolishness. The Democrats could have a grand wizard of the KKK on their ticket and Republicans would still not vote for them. That's just the way Republicans think.
And then there are the Democrats. The minute that Joe Biden made that awkward comment in the 2008 primary about Obama being "clean" (in the hygenic sense) Democratic pundits were furiously writing it off as a cross-generational misunderstanding. If the same had happened with a Republican candidate, those same pundits would have ripped him a new one. And they're certainly happy to look the other way when Obama sparks a minor ethnic cleansing of blacks in Libya. Who swallows this shit and expects to be taken seriously?
And then there are the Democrats. The minute that Joe Biden made that awkward comment in the 2008 primary about Obama being "clean" (in the hygenic sense) Democratic pundits were furiously writing it off as a cross-generational misunderstanding. If the same had happened with a Republican candidate, those same pundits would have ripped him a new one. And they're certainly happy to look the other way when Obama sparks a minor ethnic cleansing of blacks in Libya. Who swallows this shit and expects to be taken seriously?
10margd
Remember that Colin Powell's wife begged him not to run for fear of assassination attempts? We likely never hear of any but very public attempts/threats on his life, but I wonder what Obama's Secret Service profile looks like compared to past presidents'.
11faceinbook
Not much racism ? Romney today "Nobody is going to ask me for MY birth certificate" Wonder why Mr. White Man ? I think that a lot of what is going on in today's government is about racism, it is, however veiled. Which to me is perhaps worse than out right racism. Being up front about it is easier to deal with than the stuff that is going on today. The "birther" debacle, the lack of respect, the Muslim references, the resurgance of the Neo Nazi Party in the states.
My neighbor flew his flag upside down on Nov 5 th 2008.......he is in his early 50s been through plenty of elections; never did this before. (he did get a visit from the cops....flying a flag upside down is a distress signal and apparently electing a Black man as President does not qualify as true distress to many other than my neighbor) Why would he do that this time ? Before Obama was even in office ? White men do not want a Black man telling them what to do......which is second only to not wanting a woman telling them what to do. First woman is going to have a hard time.
My neighbor flew his flag upside down on Nov 5 th 2008.......he is in his early 50s been through plenty of elections; never did this before. (he did get a visit from the cops....flying a flag upside down is a distress signal and apparently electing a Black man as President does not qualify as true distress to many other than my neighbor) Why would he do that this time ? Before Obama was even in office ? White men do not want a Black man telling them what to do......which is second only to not wanting a woman telling them what to do. First woman is going to have a hard time.
12Lunar
#10: Considering that they're willing to go after school kids for innocuous statements, I'm not sure a comparison would be all that meaningful.
#11: Romney today "Nobody is going to ask me for MY birth certificate" Wonder why Mr. White Man ?
Actually, Herman Cain has ridden much further along the birther train than Romney has with a forgettable joke. On the other hand, who knew that Massachussetts was in the habit of electing "secret racists" to the governorship? Like the silly "secret muslim" meme, the "secret racist" card is something people play when they have nothing concrete to argue and just want to fearmonger.
#11: Romney today "Nobody is going to ask me for MY birth certificate" Wonder why Mr. White Man ?
Actually, Herman Cain has ridden much further along the birther train than Romney has with a forgettable joke. On the other hand, who knew that Massachussetts was in the habit of electing "secret racists" to the governorship? Like the silly "secret muslim" meme, the "secret racist" card is something people play when they have nothing concrete to argue and just want to fearmonger.
13faceinbook
>12 Lunar:
Don't think there is anything "secret" about the racism today. Just think it isn't recognized by many for what it is, or flatly denied when it is recognized. The "fearmongering" wouldn't work if there wasn't a level of racism in those who can be made afraid.
Don't think there is anything "secret" about the racism today. Just think it isn't recognized by many for what it is, or flatly denied when it is recognized. The "fearmongering" wouldn't work if there wasn't a level of racism in those who can be made afraid.
14Lunar
#13: I see. So the people of Massachussetts elected an overt racist to be their governor. That makes so much more sense.
The "fearmongering" wouldn't work if there wasn't a level of racism in those who can be made afraid.
Reality isn't so simple as pretending you're just right in your accusations. Democrats are too quick to lodge allegations of racism and Republicans are too quick to deny it. But like violence, racial hatred has been abating slowly but surely for a good long while.
The "fearmongering" wouldn't work if there wasn't a level of racism in those who can be made afraid.
Reality isn't so simple as pretending you're just right in your accusations. Democrats are too quick to lodge allegations of racism and Republicans are too quick to deny it. But like violence, racial hatred has been abating slowly but surely for a good long while.
15faceinbook
>14 Lunar:
"I see. So the people of Massachussetts elected an overt racist to be their governor."
Nope...they just voted for someone who isn't above using the racism of others to win the office of Presidency.
"But like violence, racial hatred has been abating slowly but surely for a good long while."
I don't believe that....violence and "hatred" for "otherness" is still around, changed forms and targets maybe but still alive and present.
"I see. So the people of Massachussetts elected an overt racist to be their governor."
Nope...they just voted for someone who isn't above using the racism of others to win the office of Presidency.
"But like violence, racial hatred has been abating slowly but surely for a good long while."
I don't believe that....violence and "hatred" for "otherness" is still around, changed forms and targets maybe but still alive and present.
