While Race Relations are Not Perfect: Poll Shows That we are Heading in the Right Direction

June 22, 2008

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Newly released numbers tell a story that finds itself in stark contrast too what so many in the “baby boomer” generation (you know who I am talking about; parents, friends parents, aunts, uncles, etc.) say regarding Obama’s chances, our country in all reality is more then just open to the idea, in fact roughly 90% of white American’s are fine with the idea of a black man becoming the President of the United States.

According to a Washington Post/ABC News poll, released earlier this morning, when asked about a black President, almost unanimously “whites” responded that they were completely open to the idea of a black President, which is great, especially when looking at the current scenario (Barack Obama being the Democratic candidate), and the good possibility that the question is also in fact likely to become reality:

“there is an overwhelming public openness to the idea of electing an African American to the presidency. In a Post-ABC News poll last month, nearly nine in 10 whites said they would be comfortable with a black president. While fewer whites, about two-thirds, said they would be “entirely comfortable” with it, that was more than double the percentage of all adults who said they would be so at ease with someone entering office for the first time at age 72, which McCain (R-Ariz.) would do should he prevail in November.”

Now there will be those (more then likely the baby boomer’s again) who will say this poll is wrong, trumped up, or some excuse that completely disregards the positive message of the polls findings, and thats fine, that’s what they (the vast majority of baby boomer’s do), they are negative in general, they are naysayers, they don’t welcome change, and while claiming to know “whats best for the country” and write off the young, minority, and independent vote, remain the group that gave us two terms of Reagan, four years Bush Sr., and eight years of Dubya. Clearly illustrating that they should probably leave the next decision up to someone else, seeing as though their track record of “knowing whats best” is more or less piss poor on every account.

That said, there are in fact still issues of race in this country - anyone who would argue that there isn’t is either stupid, or simply lying to himself. According to the same Washington Post/ABC News poll nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape, while approximately 30 percent acknowledge that they have, or hold at some sort of prejudice:

“As Sen. Barack Obama opens his campaign as the first African American on a major party presidential ticket, nearly half of all Americans say race relations in the country are in bad shape and three in 10 acknowledge feelings of racial prejudice, according to a new Washington Post-ABC News poll.”

“Lingering racial bias affects the public’s assessments of the Democrat from Illinois, but offsetting advantages and Sen. John McCain’s age could be bigger factors in determining the next occupant of the White House.”

“Overall, 51 percent call the current state of race relations “excellent” or “good,” about the same as said so five years ago. That is a relative thaw from more negative ratings in the 1990s, but the gap between whites and blacks on the issue is now the widest it has been in polls dating to early 1992.”

Now these numbers represent the discussion the majority of bitter “baby boomer’s” (to whom I referenced above) would like have, one which highlights the negatives while disregarding the positive findings (90% of white’s open to the idea of a black President), I for one simply refuse to stoop to that level of anti-intellectualism, because it is impossible to make changes for the better, if all we are willing to do is highlight the bad.

Another reason it is so vital we remain focused on the change that Barack Obama has sparked, a change that will undoubtedly put our country in a better position, is because with the notion of a black President, like in the past with any “change candidate” (JFK, Ronald Reagan, etc.) the lunatics in this country (guess what states they are coming from) have started to come out of the woodwork, publicizing their archaic, demented, and overly stultifying points of view on American culture, and the way of life.

The Washington Post (in a totally unrelated article) is also running a story that focuses on the increase in hate groups in lieu of Barack Obama’s nomination for the President of the United States. White supremicists, and neo-nazi groups, across the country are reaching a fever pitch in terms of their activity and public demonstrations:

“I haven’t seen this much anger in a long, long time,” said Billy Roper, a 36-year-old who runs a group called White Revolution in Russellville, Ark. “Nothing has awakened normally complacent white Americans more than the prospect of America having an overtly nonwhite president.”

Such groups have historically inflated their influence for self-promotion and as an intimidation technique, and they refused to provide exact membership numbers or open their meetings to a reporter. Leaders acknowledged that their numbers remain very small — “the flat-globe society still has more people than us,” Roper said. But experts said their claims reveal more than hyperbole this time.

“The truth is, we’re finding an explosion in these kinds of hateful sentiments on the Net, and it’s a growing problem,” said Deborah Lauter, civil rights director for the Anti-Defamation League, which monitors hate group activity. “There are probably thousands of Web sites that do this now. I couldn’t even tell you how many are out there because it’s growing so fast.”

While it’s important too remember that even when you take into account the “booming” numbers of active members in these scum of the earth organizations - in all reality, only represent less then 1% of the total population, due to their utterly sickening view on the world they manage to draw attention to themselves - much like a heinous car crash does in slowing down traffic due to people wanting to sneak a peek at the carnage.

The Huffington Post posted a clip courtesy of American News Project’s latest report which explores the current day “spike” in the phenomenon known to those who are involved as “white nationalism”, which is apparently code word for “neo-nazi ingrates”:

So even as we usher in the enlightening news that 90% of white American’s are open to the idea of having a black President (a statistic that is really quite flooring when you place it into historical context), America still has major issues that need to be addressed regarding race, and the overall acceptance of everyone, not just a choice “group”, or “demographic.”

I am confident - very confident actually that as long as we (the vast majority of well intentioned American’s) continue working on achieving the equality, and acceptance, that it will become a reality. Hell, look at where we are now in comparison to 30 years ago.