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What about the people that voted for Obama—just because he's black? Isn't that racist too? What about the people who voted for Obama out of fear of being labele
by trebor 14y ago
What about the people that voted for Obama—just because he's black? Isn't that racist too? What about the people who voted for Obama out of fear of being labeled racist? Isn't that blackmail?
I've no idea how widespread those cases are, but I do wonder.
- cglace 14y agoOr the people that are being called uncle toms for voting for Romney.
- gadders 14y agoWhat is sad as well is that that epithet is often aimed at Republican or right-leaning politicians of colour such as Condie Rice, Herman Cain, Colin Powell etc.
- astine 14y agoIn the former case, yes that's racist but there were probably fewer of them this election than the last. Also, there were probably fewer of them than voted against him because he's black. WRT the latter, you don't have to reveal who you voted for so I doubt many did so out of fear (except maybe at those polling stations in Philly manned by the Black Panthers.) Peer pressure is a problem in elections, but it works in both directions.
- theorique 14y ago95% of Black voters cast their ballot for Obama.
- arrrg 14y agoBecause he's black? And I suppose white voters voted for Romney because he's white.
- saalweachter 14y agoWalter Mondale got 90% of the black vote in '84. Do you know something about him I don't?
- arrrg 14y agoBill Clinton got "surprisingly low" percentages in the lower eighties. Black people vote for Democrats because Republicans fucked them in the past. But no, white people vote for Romney because of the issues, black people vote for Obama because they are racist, Of course!
- wallawe 14y ago95% of whites don't vote for Romney. Not even close.
- saalweachter 14y agoIn 2000 Gore won 42% of the white vote and 90% of the black vote. In 2012, Obama won 39% of the white vote and 93% of the black vote. So at most, Obama got an extra 3% of the black vote on account of his race, and lost at most 3% of the white vote. So on the face of it, a wash. Of course, the white electorate is over five times larger than the black electorate, so that's really -2.2%, +0.4%. Even if Obama had performed at Bill Clinton's historically low 83% of the black vote, his popular vote total would have been only 1.3% lower. This may have been enough to make him lose the popular vote, but it would not have been enough to make him lose the electoral college (Mitt Romney would have needed to win the popular vote by 3% to have won the electoral college).
- evilduck 14y agoIt's a little elevated but not much, I would guess any "reverse racism" going on is probably proportional or lesser than the people who didn't vote for Obama because he was black. Recall that black voters historically align with the Democrats in the 80-90% range anyways: 1984 Walter Mondale 90% Ronald Reagan 9% 1988 Michael Dukakis 90% George H.W. Bush 10% 1992 Bill Clinton 83% George H.W. Bush 10% 1996 Bill Clinton 84% Bob Dole 12% 2000 Al Gore 90% George W. Bush 9%
- gadders 14y agoAnd I believe Bush Jr had one of the most diverse cabinets as well...
- rpm4321 14y agoEven though the percent might not be much higher, it's really about turnout, not percent won. Twice as many blacks showed up to the polls for Obama than for Clinton. Obama was a "movement" candidate in the black community. However, I'm sympathetic to your argument - I think blacks turning out for Obama was more akin to Irish Catholics showing up for Kennedy, rather than whites showing up for George Wallace - more of a pride thing, and a symbolic triumph over past discrimination, etc.
- theorique 14y agoGood point - Obama's results with the Black vote was more of a bump, rather than a sea change compared to White candidates in the past.
- arrrg 14y agoWhat about the people who voted for Romney because he is white? What kind of question is that even? Suddenly when it's a black guy THAT'S the issue. How brain dead. Wanting your kid to have positive black role models is not racist, no. That's a not very sophisticated but very valid and certainly not racist reason for voting for Obama that's entirely based on race.
- matwood 14y agoWhat about the people who voted for Romney because he is white? Those people are also racists, and frequently called racists. The double standard is issue here. White guy votes for a white guy because he's white means he's a racists. Black guy votes for a black guy because he's black means he's supporting change. Worse yet, is that since I think Obama has done a horrible job and wouldn't vote for him, his supporters call me a racist. Sad state of affairs really.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- arrrg 14y agoThose two things are not equivalent. That's not a symmetrical situation. But I like your straw man. Also, I named a situation when voting for Obama because he is black is ok and not racist.
- matwood 14y agoAlso, I named a situation when voting for Obama because he is black is ok and not racist. Making a decision based on race is racist. To think otherwise is to continue to perpetuate racism and remain part of the problem.
- arrrg 14y agoI said it yesterday and I will say it again today: If you insist on playing semantic games and defining racism so weirdly I will happily admit to loving being racist in that way. You mistake is to assume symmetry where there is none.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]