However, the issue of race has been way below my radar lately because of other media distractions. Today while looking at the latest political news on CNN.com I came across an article titled, "Race could play big role in election, poll suggests". Immediately I thought, are we really still thinking about this issue, and why the hell is it still an issue? However, when talking in class about the influence of the media, is this an example of the media influencing our opinions? The article states that racial prejudices could cost Barack Obama 6% points according to an Associated Press/ Yahoo news poll. It is usually hard to poll on issues of race because people are not willing to openly talk about the fact that they are in fact prejudice or even worse, racist. By conducting the poll online, pollsters hope that the anonymity factor would lead to more honest results from those polled.
Jeff Johnson, the host of BET's "The Truth With Jeff Johnson", said that one misconception is that racial prejudices are unique to conservatives or people in "Middle America" but that, "there are liberals also in many cases that are racist. I don't think we know yet how it's going to play out".
Its a scary thought that the evidence from current polls could be completely wiped away on election day when the results are in. I think that the polls are an underestimate of the possible factor of race and its roll in the current election. What makes us voters skeptical of someone in terms of their race? What social or psychological roles are in play? I think that race will unfortunately be an issue in this election season because of the fact that the race is in fact so close. I wish that we could truly say that race doesn't matter in America, but the evidence says that race is a factor whether or not one is ready to admit it.
4 comments:
It would be interesting to see where the "race" voters are concentrated. You'd like to know, for instance, what percentage will vote against Obama based on race in Ohio or Michigan or Pennsylvania, which are swing states. If these race voters are mostly in states where Obama won't do well in the first place, that's not so much of problem. But if it's more evenly spread, that's trouble. Do you have a link for that poll?
Dr. Bob
Race voters will only be troublesome for Obama, if the "wash" he predicts between voters voting for and against him because of the color of his skin does not occur and the issue of race turns out to be a much more defining, negative issue. Given the momentum gained by Obama's campaign in terms of appealing to and registering minorities and 18-25 year old in key states and urban areas, however, I don't think this will be the case. It seems very likely that the sheer increase in volume of Obama supporters could nullify any impact that racism may have. While there may be the passionate few who vote solely to ensure that a minority does not reach office, the positive passion toward change is too large in numbers and force for Obama to be overly concerned.
I don't think the article had a link to the poll, but I will search for a poll on pollnation.com or by Gallup on the subject of race in the election by geographic region and update the post !
It is a huge feat to have a minority running for president, and its enlightening to see how far this country has come. Its unfortunate, though, that there are so many democrats and liberals who simply won't vote for Obama because he is black. They may agree with his ideals, but many can never look past his race. We base so much of our judgment on physicality, that we will then stigmatize and stereotype people based on race, gender, age, etc. Because we are human, many of us will always be biased and prejudice. We instinctively fear that which is different and the unknown in general.
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