Posted by
Robert Morris on Friday, August 22, 2008 2:00:00 PM
If America is racist, then Barack Obama's numbers in the polls should be rising not falling.
Assume as time passes in the campaign knowledge about the candidates' character increases. Also, assume knowledge of the candidates' race would be constant over time. Finally, assume Barack Obama is an excellent candidate for the presidency.
In a racist America...
Obama's numbers should never have gotten off the ground or at least taken time to. After all, knowledge of his skin color (a negative) wouldn't increase over time, only our knowledge of his character would (supposedly a positive).
In a fair America...
Obama's numbers should have been average at first and increased over time. We wouldn't have factored his race in our judgment; we would have waited to know him to decide his qualifications.
In a reversely racist America...
Obama's numbers should have been high at first (giving him credit for his skin color) and stayed high as we learned more about how qualified he is.
Interestingly, none of these scenarios match the current trends. However, if we remove the assumption that Obama is an excellent candidate for president, then we can actually make one of these scenarios fit.
In our reversely racist America...
Obama's numbers were high at first (giving him credit for his skin color) and dropped as we learned more about how qualified he isn’t.
Media bias is one factor I have left out here. If you believe that the main stream media hates Obama and is succeeding at turning us against him, then you might not believe this explanation and you might also need a brain scan.
The fact is America is only racist in our tendency to give people of color the benefit of the doubt, but believe or not, in the end, America judges people "not by the color of their skin but the content of their character."