Thread: Many in the South still warey of Obama's racial background

THE SOUTH

For some, uncertainty starts at racial identity


By Adam Nossiter
Published: October 15, 2008








MOBILE, Alabama: The McCain campaign's depiction of Barack Obama as a mysterious "other" with an impenetrable background may not be resonating in the national polls, but it has found a receptive audience with many white Southern voters.
In interviews here in the Deep South and in Virginia, white voters made it clear that they remain deeply uneasy with Obama — with his politics, his personality and his biracial background. Being the son of a white mother and a black father has come to symbolize Obama's larger mysteries for many voters. When asked about his background, a substantial number of people interviewed said they believed his racial heritage was unclear, giving them another reason to vote against him.
"He's neither-nor," said Ricky Thompson, a pipe fitter who works at a factory north of Mobile, while standing in the parking lot of a Wal-Mart store just north of here. "He's other. It's in the Bible. Come as one. Don't create other breeds."
Whether Obama is black, half-black or half-white often seemed to overshadow the question of his exact stand on particular issues, and rough-edged comments on the subject flowed easily even from voters who said race should not be an issue in the campaign. Many voters seemed to have no difficulty criticizing the mixing of the races — and thus the product of such mixtures — even as they indignantly said a candidate's color held no importance for them.
"I would think of him as I would of another of mixed race," said Glenn Reynolds, 74, a retired textile worker in Martinsdale, Virginia, and a former supervisor at a Goodyear plant. "God taught the children of Israel not to intermarry. You should be proud of what you are, and not intermarry."


International Herald Tribune

I especially love this quote: "He's other. It's in the Bible. Come as one. Don't create other breeds."


Brilliant.

of course these people think this way, they're idiots.

Originally Posted by nickcuse

of course these people think this way, they're idiots.

It's as if they never quite got over the whole civil rights thing.

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

It's as if they never quite got over the whole civil rights thing.

more like they never quite got over the whole civil war thing.

more like they never quite got over the standing erect thing.

more like they never quite got over the opposable thumbs thing.

ok i'm done.

Have to feel sorry for biracial people. It is a shame that they have no real identity.

They are twisting the words of the Bible to accommodate their cause. At that time in the Bible there were reasons why he told them not to go to a peculiar place. I do not believe that all the ones who followed Jesus were quote fair skinned. But claiming it is a Southern problem is crazy. Racism is all over the US and people just like to bad mouth the south. I don’t know this Many they are talking about.

Originally Posted by Defensor

Have to feel sorry for biracial people. It is a shame that they have no real identity.

brilliant as always!!

Originally Posted by Defensor

Have to feel sorry for biracial people. It is a shame that they have no real identity.

You make your own identity. Only the intellectually weak feel the need to base theirs on their race.

I always hear you railing against collectivism, yet here you are manifesting it.

Originally Posted by Zarathustra

It's as if they never quite got over the whole civil rights thing.

You have that right! The south I am sorry to say has the largest number of ignorant racists and that is why McCain leads there. The coast attracts more intelligence which is why you see NC and even GA starting to turn blue. FL is not really even considered south because the majority of those living there are originally from the north.