Telling The Truth About Kentucky Racism -- And Racial Politics.
Read the excellent Courier-Journal piece by Joe Gerth. Here is the piece:
Clinton's victory in Kentucky raises questions on role of racial views
21% of voters polled cited it as important factor in selection
By Joseph Gerth • jgerth@courier-journal.com • May 22, 2008
In Kentucky and Oregon, nearly nine of every 10 voters Tuesday were white.
But the results in the two states' presidential primaries were very different.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois got 30 percent of the vote in Kentucky; in Oregon he received nearly 60 percent.
And in exit interviews, nearly one in five white Kentucky voters said race was an important factor in their vote. In Oregon, it was one in 10.
It's difficult to escape the conclusion that Kentucky's racial attitudes played a significant role in the outcome of Tuesday's primary.
"This was so overwhelming of a win, and partly it was an endorsement of (Sen. Hillary) Clinton. But partially it was a rejection of Obama," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "And I think race is part of it."
In Kentucky, Obama got less than 10 percent of the votes in 19 of the state's 120 counties. He carried only two -- Jefferson and Fayette, both of which have significant African-American populations.
Clinton, of New York, won the race by a 35 percentage-point margin.
According to exit polling -- done for a consortium of news organizations, including The Associated Press -- only 46 percent of Kentucky voters believe that Obama shares their values.
The poll found that 21 percent of the respondents -- blacks and whites -- said race was an important factor in their decision. About 80 percent of them voted for Clinton, 16 percent for Obama.
Only 29 percent of those whites for whom race was a factor said they would vote for Obama in November should he be the Democratic candidate against Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee.
It cuts both ways
The race issue cut both ways. Of the African Americans who voted in Kentucky, exit polling found 90 percent favored Obama.
Kentucky's population is about 90 percent white and 7 percent black.
Gov. Steve Beshear said yesterday he worries about the impression that race may have played a big role in Clinton's win.
"That kind of talk concerns me, and I certainly hope that it's not deserved," he said.
"I'm sure there are some people in Kentucky, and indeed all around the United States, who still harbor those kinds of feelings. … But I don't think that applies to the vast majority of Kentuckians," he said.
Osi Onyekwuluje, a Bowling Green lawyer, said he has no doubt racism is pervasive in some parts of Kentucky -- among both Democrats and Republicans.
Onyekwuluje is one of the few blacks who has ever run for a statewide office in Kentucky -- he was a Republican candidate for state auditor in 2003 -- and he said he has seen first-hand the racism in the state.
"I had people tell me that they weren't voting for me because I'm black," he said.
Onyekwuluje noted that the exit polling showed that only four of every 10 Kentucky voters would be satisfied with Obama as the Democratic nominee, compared with 76 percent who would be satisfied with Clinton.
"There is no policy difference to explain that, other than the fact that one is black and one is not black," he said.
He said he fears Kentucky's image was harmed by the election.
"I was hoping that it (Clinton's win) wouldn't be so huge," he said. " … I think the news media all over the world has painted Kentucky as somewhat racist."
Sabato said racism undoubtedly played a role in the margin of Obama's defeat. But, he added, there were plenty of other reasons why Clinton's message resounded in Kentucky, where the vast majority of voters are blue-collar, white and without a college education.
That group has supported Clinton in state after state. In Kentucky, however, she also won a majority of voters with college degrees, a demographic group that has generally appealed to Obama in other states.
Clinton campaigned in state
Also benefiting Clinton was the fact that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was extremely popular here and carried the state twice. And there was hardly a day that went by in the past couple of weeks that either Hillary or Bill Clinton, or their daughter Chelsea, wasn't in the state or planning a trip here.
Obama made only one trip to the state, as did his wife, Michelle.
In an opinion piece that ran in newspapers in the region just before the Kentucky primary, University of Kentucky history professor Ron Eller wrote that the reason Clinton rolled up her biggest margins in Appalachia is a complex question involving race, educational attainment and the needs of the residents.
"Job insecurity, rising food and gas prices, and uncertain access to health care and education turned Appalachian voters toward the more working-class message of Hillary Clinton, especially among women who occupy the center of the modern mountain economy," he wrote.
Sabato agreed, saying that Obama's "appeal is pitched to high-income voters, highly educated voters" and not to those with lower incomes who constitute a large majority of Kentucky's rural population.
Obama campaign avoids issue
The Obama campaign wouldn't touch the question of race as it related to the vote in Kentucky.
"The Clintons have been campaigning here for two decades (since Bill Clinton's first race for the presidency in the early 1990s)," said Clark Stevens, a spokesman for Obama's campaign.
Maxine Hurt, 55, who worked in a Louisville polling place on 38th Street near Broadway, said the image of racial prejudice is exactly what Kentucky now has -- and she says deservedly.
Hurt said that on primary day she overheard one white voter say, "I'll vote for anyone besides that n -- -- ." For her, "that brings a very negative image and a negative energy to Kentucky. It just goes to show that racism still exists."
But Joan Duncan, 46, a business manager who lives in Jeffersontown, said she doesn't believe race played a big role in the election. She said she thinks people care more about issues than the color of a candidate's skin.
"I think we're well beyond that," she said.
Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Reporter Michelle Day contributed to this story.
Clinton's victory in Kentucky raises questions on role of racial views
21% of voters polled cited it as important factor in selection
By Joseph Gerth • jgerth@courier-journal.com • May 22, 2008
In Kentucky and Oregon, nearly nine of every 10 voters Tuesday were white.
But the results in the two states' presidential primaries were very different.
Sen. Barack Obama of Illinois got 30 percent of the vote in Kentucky; in Oregon he received nearly 60 percent.
And in exit interviews, nearly one in five white Kentucky voters said race was an important factor in their vote. In Oregon, it was one in 10.
It's difficult to escape the conclusion that Kentucky's racial attitudes played a significant role in the outcome of Tuesday's primary.
"This was so overwhelming of a win, and partly it was an endorsement of (Sen. Hillary) Clinton. But partially it was a rejection of Obama," said Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics. "And I think race is part of it."
In Kentucky, Obama got less than 10 percent of the votes in 19 of the state's 120 counties. He carried only two -- Jefferson and Fayette, both of which have significant African-American populations.
Clinton, of New York, won the race by a 35 percentage-point margin.
According to exit polling -- done for a consortium of news organizations, including The Associated Press -- only 46 percent of Kentucky voters believe that Obama shares their values.
The poll found that 21 percent of the respondents -- blacks and whites -- said race was an important factor in their decision. About 80 percent of them voted for Clinton, 16 percent for Obama.
Only 29 percent of those whites for whom race was a factor said they would vote for Obama in November should he be the Democratic candidate against Sen. John McCain of Arizona, the presumptive Republican nominee.
It cuts both ways
The race issue cut both ways. Of the African Americans who voted in Kentucky, exit polling found 90 percent favored Obama.
Kentucky's population is about 90 percent white and 7 percent black.
Gov. Steve Beshear said yesterday he worries about the impression that race may have played a big role in Clinton's win.
"That kind of talk concerns me, and I certainly hope that it's not deserved," he said.
"I'm sure there are some people in Kentucky, and indeed all around the United States, who still harbor those kinds of feelings. … But I don't think that applies to the vast majority of Kentuckians," he said.
Osi Onyekwuluje, a Bowling Green lawyer, said he has no doubt racism is pervasive in some parts of Kentucky -- among both Democrats and Republicans.
Onyekwuluje is one of the few blacks who has ever run for a statewide office in Kentucky -- he was a Republican candidate for state auditor in 2003 -- and he said he has seen first-hand the racism in the state.
"I had people tell me that they weren't voting for me because I'm black," he said.
Onyekwuluje noted that the exit polling showed that only four of every 10 Kentucky voters would be satisfied with Obama as the Democratic nominee, compared with 76 percent who would be satisfied with Clinton.
"There is no policy difference to explain that, other than the fact that one is black and one is not black," he said.
He said he fears Kentucky's image was harmed by the election.
"I was hoping that it (Clinton's win) wouldn't be so huge," he said. " … I think the news media all over the world has painted Kentucky as somewhat racist."
Sabato said racism undoubtedly played a role in the margin of Obama's defeat. But, he added, there were plenty of other reasons why Clinton's message resounded in Kentucky, where the vast majority of voters are blue-collar, white and without a college education.
That group has supported Clinton in state after state. In Kentucky, however, she also won a majority of voters with college degrees, a demographic group that has generally appealed to Obama in other states.
Clinton campaigned in state
Also benefiting Clinton was the fact that her husband, former President Bill Clinton, was extremely popular here and carried the state twice. And there was hardly a day that went by in the past couple of weeks that either Hillary or Bill Clinton, or their daughter Chelsea, wasn't in the state or planning a trip here.
Obama made only one trip to the state, as did his wife, Michelle.
In an opinion piece that ran in newspapers in the region just before the Kentucky primary, University of Kentucky history professor Ron Eller wrote that the reason Clinton rolled up her biggest margins in Appalachia is a complex question involving race, educational attainment and the needs of the residents.
"Job insecurity, rising food and gas prices, and uncertain access to health care and education turned Appalachian voters toward the more working-class message of Hillary Clinton, especially among women who occupy the center of the modern mountain economy," he wrote.
Sabato agreed, saying that Obama's "appeal is pitched to high-income voters, highly educated voters" and not to those with lower incomes who constitute a large majority of Kentucky's rural population.
Obama campaign avoids issue
The Obama campaign wouldn't touch the question of race as it related to the vote in Kentucky.
"The Clintons have been campaigning here for two decades (since Bill Clinton's first race for the presidency in the early 1990s)," said Clark Stevens, a spokesman for Obama's campaign.
Maxine Hurt, 55, who worked in a Louisville polling place on 38th Street near Broadway, said the image of racial prejudice is exactly what Kentucky now has -- and she says deservedly.
Hurt said that on primary day she overheard one white voter say, "I'll vote for anyone besides that n -- -- ." For her, "that brings a very negative image and a negative energy to Kentucky. It just goes to show that racism still exists."
But Joan Duncan, 46, a business manager who lives in Jeffersontown, said she doesn't believe race played a big role in the election. She said she thinks people care more about issues than the color of a candidate's skin.
"I think we're well beyond that," she said.
Reporter Joseph Gerth can be reached at (502) 582-4702. Reporter Michelle Day contributed to this story.
Labels: Democratism, Politics, Race, Racism, Republicanism
posted by KYJurisDoctor at 8:06 AM
2 Comments:
Whether we like it or not or you considered it to be racist,this is still America and anyone has the right to vote for or against someone because of his or her race,gender or religion!
You SORELY miss the point.
No one is questioning you right to vote for whom you like, just as I hope you will not question my right to speak on why race mattered to some!
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