[Vision2020] Not Afraid to Talk About Race

[Art Deco]

[image: Campaign Stops - Strong Opinions on the 2012
Election]<http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/>
June 7, 2012, 12:24 amNot Afraid to Talk About RaceBy CHARLES M.
BLOW<http://campaignstops.blogs.nytimes.com/author/charles-m-blow/>

Hey, I heard that: “Oh, no, the black columnist is writing about race,
again.”

Yes, I am. Deal with it. The moment we allow ourselves to be browbeaten out
of having important discussions about issues that persist, we cease to
command the requisite conviction to wield the pen — or to peck on a
keyboard, but you get my drift.

Varying political views among racial and ethnic groups are real.

They have always informed our politics, and no doubt they will continue to
do so. The idea, naively held by many, that the election of the first black
president would nullify racial grievances, bridge racial differences and
erase racial animosities has quickly faded. We find ourselves once again
trying to wrestle with the meaning and importance of race in our politics.

In fact, one could argue that examinations of racial attitudes in politics
have become more fraught as racial motives, political objectives and
accusations and denials of racism and reverse-racism serve as a kind of
subterfuge hiding resentments and prejudices.

Either racial attitudes are naked, blatant and visible, this thinking goes,
or they’re nonexistent, manufactured by race baiters and hucksters as
devices of division. The middle ground, sprinkled with land mines made up
of racial labels, is now a place where fair-minded people dare not tread.

That’s a shame.

But it’s not going to stop me. Strap on your lead boots and let’s go for a
stroll.

A Pew Research Center American values
survey<http://www.people-press.org/2012/06/04/partisan-polarization-surges-in-bush-obama-years/>released
this week offers fascinating insights into how racially divergent
values and the changing racial compositions of political parties influence
our politics.

Let’s look at the racial makeup of the two major parties: from 2000 to 2012
the percentage of Republicans who are white has remained relatively steady,
about 87 percent. On the other hand, the percentage of Democrats who are
white has dropped nine percentage points, from 64 percent in 2000 to 55
percent in 2012. If current trends persist, in a few years the Democratic
Party will be a majority minority party. But the largest drop in the white
percentage has been among Independents: they were 79 percent white in 2000,
but they are only 67 percent white now.

The racial diversity among Democrats and the lack of it among Republicans
means that the two bases bring differing sets of concerns to the national
debate.

For instance, blacks and Hispanics are far more likely to believe that
poverty is a result of circumstances beyond a person’s control than a
result of lack of effort.

Blacks and Hispanics also look far more favorably on the role of
government, particularly as it relates to guarding against poverty and
evening a playing field that they feel is tilted. Seventy-eight percent of
both blacks and Hispanics believed that government should guarantee
everyone enough to eat and a place to sleep, while only 52 percent of
whites agreed with that idea.

This is not to say that minorities who favor a stronger government want
more government handouts. There was very little difference in the
percentage of blacks, Hispanics and whites who believed that poor people
have become too dependent on government assistance programs (it’s pretty
high for all three groups, at 70, 69 and 72 percent, respectively).

They seem to want a chance, not a check.

To wit, 62 percent of blacks and 59 percent of Hispanics say that we should
make every possible effort to improve the position of blacks and other
minorities, even if it means giving them preferential treatment. Not
surprisingly, only 22 percent of whites agreed with this idea. Only 12
percent of Republicans — almost all of whom are white — agreed. This
percentage has been decreasing since 2007, while the percentage of white
Democrats who agree has been increasing.

Now what does that mean for the presidential race?

A staggering 90 percent of Romney supporters are white. Only 4 percent are
Hispanic, less than 1 percent are black and another 4 percent are another
race.

Of Obama’s supporters, 57 percent are white, 23 percent are black, 12
percent are Hispanic and 7 percent are another race.

And what of the all-important swing voters (those who are undecided, who
lean toward a candidate, or who say that they could change their mind)?
Nearly three out of four are white. The rest are roughly 8 percent each
blacks, Hispanics and another race.

That might explain why the Pew poll found that the swing voters lean more
toward Obama voters on issues like civil liberties and the role of labor
unions, but are closer to Romney voters on the role of social safety nets,
immigration and minority-preference programs.

Put another way, Romney voters and swing voters — who are both overwhelming
white — agree on the more racially charged issues.

Pointing out these correlations is not only valid, it is instructive and
helpful. In large part this election will be about the role of government
in our lives, and different racial and ethnic groups view that particular
issue very differently.

The economy always looms large, but for those who feel left behind by the
economy even when it’s roaring, but especially when it sputters, social
safety nets and governmental activism can also have tremendous weight.

The trick will be to have a conversation about the direction of the country
that takes that into account but lifts the language to a level where common
goals can be seen from differing racial vantage points — to show a way to
be merciful to those struggling while providing a path to financial
independence and social equality. Contrary to what many Americans think,
most people do in fact want a hand up and not a handout.


-- 
Art Deco (Wayne A. Fox)
art.deco.studios at gmail.com
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