In looking at the candidacy of Barack Obama, I am reminded of something that I once read from author Amos Wilson. In his book, Black-On-Black Violence: The Psychodynamics of Black Self-Annihilation in Service of White Domination, Wilson referred to what being a black man is in America. To paraphrase him, a big part of our experience is that no matter how one might adjust one’s dress, tone or mannerisms, because you are a black man you are always going to be seen as foreign and, possibly, as a threat.

So, it was of little surprise to hear that, in Pennsylvania, the issue of race was glossed over, though it was clear that a significant number of white voters indicated that race was a factor in voting for Clinton. Granted, black turnout for Obama is extremely high, too but, most would agree that this tide did not turn his way until what was construed as race-baiting began in the Clinton camp (a charge I believe true). Prior to that, Sen. Clinton enjoyed an advantage among black voters.

Whatever the reason, a question is now coming forward: How big a role will race play in Obama’s march toward the White House? In the wake of large, majority-white, working-class states, there is a concern that Obama’s race may be factoring into the votes for these states. Okay, let’s step back for a minute. We know that Hillary Clinton will have to deal with sexism and, to a certain extent, McCain will deal with ageism. However, both Hillary Clinton and John McCain have advantages — they are white. Sorry to be blunt, but, it’s true. No one will question their patriotism out of hand (for example, how many questions do Clinton or McCain get about lapel flag pins, though I rarely see either wearing one). No one will tell Clinton or McCain who they can or cannot associate with if they want to be serious Presidential candidates (i.e. pastors) or, even more importantly, no one will ask either McCain or Clinton to “reject” or “denounce” people with whom they have no association (i.e. Minister Louis Farrakhan). However, when you’re black, your job becomes one of not only showing whether or not you’re qualified but, also, whether or not you’re “safe”. It’s as if there is some fear that if a black person is in charge, they’d look for retribution or revenge for past injustices.

To bring it down a notch, let’s focus on the Democratic party. For my entire life, Democrats have enjoyed the reliable loyalty of black people. Though I lean left, I still consider myself an Independent. (In fact, until this year, I would get issues-only ballots in primaries because I refused to be tied down to a party. I only declared this year in order to vote for Obama.) The reason why my independent streak kicked in was due to Clinton’s behavior in the White House in 1998. You see, I am not condemning the man for his sexual indiscretions. Instead, it was the actions of the Democrats that really bothered me. Nearly all we heard was spin and excuses but, what we should have been hearing was a clamor for President Clinton to simply tell the truth and put it behind him before things got out of hand. Because they did not, we ended up with President Bush and, a short while later, the Senate fell into Republican hands, which gave them a lock on the Executive and Legislative branches. This, in turn, allowed them to appoint the judges that favored their positions and allowed them to put total incompetents into positions overseeing the most major crises our nation has felt (ex. Donald Rumsfeld overseeing the Iraq War, Michael Brown overseeing FEMA after Hurricane Katrina and Alphonso Jackson overseeing HUD in our current mortgage crisis).

Also, let’s not forget that it was also Bill Clinton who brought us NAFTA, which further exacerbated our problems with lopsided trade policies, and brought us further deregulation in telecommunications which is all but killing independent and small media outlets.

But, even after all this, black people continued supporting the Democratic party, though the party continued to move further from our interests.

Today, I think we stand facing of a truth that we’ve been trying to ignore for a long time–the Democratic party and black folks may need to part company. Don’t get me wrong–unlike Republicans, there is at least an acknowledgment on the Democratic side that there are issues of concern that are particular to black people but, that’s not good enough any longer. If, after all our support, white Democrats feel comfortable saying that not wanting to vote for a candidate simply because of skin color is an acceptable criterion to use in voting, we, as black people, need to reevaluate our associations. Trust me, as my vote for John Kerry proves, I can hold my nose to vote for certain Democrats because, in my mind, George Bush’s presidency has been nothing short of a nightmare. But, if what I am reading is true, there are white Democrats out there willing to risk a continuation of Bush policies (via McCain) because they can’t bring themselves to vote for a black candidate.

I don’t know what the future will bring. However, at least for this cycle, the Democrats face a major quandary. They obviously need white voters but, are they willing to lose their black constituency because they are willing to cater to the racist elements within their white constituency? If so, they run the risk of alienating a group of voters who have been largely responsible for the electoral successes they’ve enjoyed for the last four decades.

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