Race And The Race

"I'll never vote for a black person." So said a white person in Muncie, Indiana to Danielle Ross as Ross solicited support for Senator Barack Obama, according to Kevin Merida of the Washington Post in his May 13, 2008 article. Responding to a phone bank call from a retired social studies teacher during the Pennsylvania primary campaign, a caller stated that he could not possibly vote for Obama, concluding "Hang that darky from a tree!" And this from a Pittburh union organizer: "White people look out for white people, and black people look out for black people." In an incident occurring at 2 a.m. before the Indiana primary Obama's Vincennes, Indiana office was vandalized; one spray-painted message on a window: "Hamas votes BHO."

And, as the New York Times reports, 2 in 10 white voters in West Virginia stated that race was an important factor in their vote; of those voters, 8 in 10 supported Senator Hillary Clinton.