The Great Race

The recent and horrible killing of Trayvon Martin has brought an undercurrent of racial tensions, previously blatantly referenced only by the left lamenting racism from the right and from the extreme racist factions on the far right (such as the preacher introducing Rick Santorum at a recent rally), into broad daylight. The Obama administration, in fact, despite being the subject of coded racial language in the political sphere, has made an effort to downplay the racial difference as much as possible, as Robert De Niro just found out.

Yet the racial consciousness inside the country was aching to break free. Recently the Justice Department blocked a Texas law that would have required voters to present valid photo ID because the state could not satisfactorily argue that minority voters would not be disenfranchised by the law, while there is no "evidence of significant in-person voter impersonation not already addressed by the state’s existing laws." It seems the only reason for Texas to push for the law would be racist, but not in plainly spoken terms. In Georgia the creator of the famous anti-Obama bumper sticker that reads "Don't Re-Nig 2012," Paula Smith, has come out and defended it, somehow claiming the N-word is not racist. Why? "Because I don’t use it. I have kids here around me that are black kids. I call them my own kids. I’ve helped black families…to guide them in the right direction. Paintball is one of these things. We like to laugh and have a good time. That’s our way of life." I've read this over and over and still can't understand it. The only conclusion I can draw is that we have an example of one more instance of de facto racism that is being covered up as best as possible.

Now we have the death of a young man that cannot be explained without acknowledging racism, even with Paula Smith's bizarre dictionary. And talk about racism may enter the political sphere:

Recently a study was released analyzing the effect the president's race has on public approval of his policies. It's a fascinating study and worth the four and a half minutes of listening; you can listen to it below. The study told the provisions of a policy to two groups, telling one it was Barack Obama's policy and the other that it was Bill Clinton's. The study found that test subjects who had a more liberal view towards race tended to favor the Obama policy and those who were more conservative favored Clinton's, even though they were the same. The study concludes that the race of a president does indeed play some role in his public approval.

I'm going to take the same road as the NPR piece and not jump to the wide-reaching conclusion that Obama's lack of popularity is due to racism - although I kind of imply it by juxtaposing this study with Trayvon Martin's murder. I'm a little skeptical that the study's methods provide conclusive evidence as to the role race plays in approval rating because Bill Clinton is not just a white version of Barack Obama, or visa versa, so it's hard to isolate race as the only difference that mattered to the test subjects. Still, I think it opens up a valuable and interesting question that should be looked into. It would be beneficial to know what role race has in our subconscious political attitudes. And I think it's dangerous to avoid serious thought and discussion as a country about race any longer.