Here I asked if the appearance of Morgan Freeman (a black actor for those who haven’t seen him) as POTUS in films may have pre-neutralised the issue of Obama’s blackness. Acsenray suggested that the topic was worthy of a seperate thread, so here it is. What do Dopers think?
I don’t think it’s a huge issue. Certainly Mr. Obama has a serious campaign going now.
Furthermore, even assumming that the United States really is a racist country in that they might believe that a minority is less disposed to be able to occupy the office of president, that doesn’t mean they would necessarily refuse to vote for a specific black person. I think that overwhelmingly people these days would not self-identify as racist. Even if they are racist in thinking that the average minority is less whatever than a white Anglo-Saxon protestant, they’ve probably post-racist enough to consider at least some people (like presidential candidates) as individuals.
Apparently 38% of Iowa Caucus-Goers are comfortable with it.
If I’m reading threemae’s post correctly, I think I agree. There are few people who can be honest enough with themselves and acknowledge their racism. I think if Obama starts to distance himself from the pack and looks more and more like the presumptive candidate, people will start to find all kinds of reasons not to support him… lack of experience, etc.
I don’t think movies have an effect on people’s ability to envision him as President.
I also think Obama’s heritage and pedigree: being biracial, being Black but not the descendant of African-American slaves, being a middle-class, Harvard-educated lawyer - makes it likely that people will view him as an “exception.”
“He’s not like those Black men I see on the corner in rough neighborhoods… he’s different.”
I don’t know the extent to which racism may help or hurt Obama’s chances, but I don’t think black actors playing Presidents will neutralise the issue significantly. There’s been films about rapists, serial murderers, and the like, and that doesn’t seem to have played down actual cases in the media all that much.
What about the use of films as accidental propaganda?
Perhaps a bit like Colin Powell in that regard? A lot of Freepers are playing up Obama’s middle name and implying that he’s an undercover Al-Qaeda operative (it’s a lot of fun over there at the moment) - will that be used against him more subtly in more mainstream arenas?
For that matter, there have been films with Fred Thompson being President, but that doesn’t seem to have helped people named Fred Thompson actually become prez.
I don’t know if a black POTUS is really an issue. But ya gotta admit, we’ve talked about the subject enough that it’s kind of hard not to see it as one. 
So yeah, I gotta say it’s an issue. A major one? A negative one? I don’t know. But it’s an issue if only for the fact that people keep talking about it.
I really like to hope racism won’t be an issue but then again I know just one too many closeted racists. It’s hard to judge how accepting they’d be to the idea when they are so knee-jerkish when it comes to things like racistly connecting the dots between the black community and crime for example.
Think of how Tiger Woods career has gone. He’s widely loved and accepted but you still get those closeted naysayers who don’t like a “black” guy dominating their historically “white” game. And it’s hard to tell how many there are since they keep it under wraps.
What I think could hurt him are high profile black celebrities rushing to his side to support him just because he is black. Racists seem to be okay one-on-one with black people but get uncomfortable quickly when they see them congregate.
Morgan Freeman played a President in one movie, Deep Impact, ten years ago, and the movie is not going to be an issue in this campaign. The fact that people are comfortable with a grandfatherly actor playing the Prez won’t make any difference when people have to think about voting for Barack Obama.
Also, you forgot the two black Presidents in 24. But seriously, TV and movies are totally irrelevant here.
People tend to put a very rosy spin on just about everything they do. Most wouldn’t identify themselves as racists, I agree, but avowed racism is only one kind of racism, and not the most common kind.
I’m not sure that is a safe assumption. I don’t think racism will be enough to sink Obama’s candidacy. As of today I think he’s probably going to win in November, and as somebody who previously didn’t expect to live long enough to see a black president, that’s rather heartening. But I do I think there are plenty of people out there who would be ill at ease with the idea of a black man being in charge, even one who is palatable to white people in many ways.
[None of this is intended to suggest that anybody who votes against Obama is a racist.]
Yes. Except you used the word “subtly,” and I don’t think it applies. The “Obama is a Muslim” e-mails never stopped circulating and they’re going to come back even bigger now. Just today, one of my co-workers got one of those e-mails. It said Obama is a Muslim, won’t put his hand on his heart during the Star-Spangled Banner and won’t say the pledge of allegiance, which I think is a combination of three popular frauds. And this time, the original author added some text that said Snopes.com had verified all the claims - which was also a lie. Yeah, more of this is coming.
Yes, exactly. I don’t see that Obama being president will advance a lot of people’s thinking on civil rights. People who “get it” won’t become more accepting. Kids of color, especially Black kids, growing up in low income neighborhoods will not necessarily make the connection between Obama being president and them being successful. Some certainly will, but don’t expect everyone to have the same view. Some people of all races will see him as an exception, a palatable Black man, like Powell is perceived by a lot of conservatives I know. (I call it the “Bagger Vance” phenomenon. Powell isn’t human to them, but some sort of Black magical sprite… like a football legend or something.) Hardcore racists will find something he’s said about race and link him to liberal affirmative action…
And then the “mistakes” will start. Barack HUSSEIN Obama is running for president! Ex-Muslim Obama is hoping to visit Mecca as president… and so on.
I think its an issue- many people will say the have no problem with it if asked by Joe Newsreporter, but as they say, once you’re in the booth, it may be a different story. It helps though that he’s not black black, like Al Sharpton. And why everyone who is 50/50 is always considered black is another thread altogether.
I think an important consideration here is: Will voters act the same way in a private voting booth as they do in an open, public podium?
Yes, it is an issue. Like Hampshire, I know way too many people who will not vote for Obama, no matter what, solely because of his race. Believe me, overt racism is alive and well…and I live in New Jersey. Cauci-schmauci. Obama can collect all the primary wins he wants, but when it comes down to the general election I believe many so-called progressives will walk into that booth and find themselves pulling the lever for the white guy.
From my observations, no. There was a ton of visual support for Gore in 2004 and a ton of visual bashing of Bush that all Bush supporters just sort of laid low and kept their mouths shut then made their voices heard at the voting booth.
However, the important question is: Would you support Morgan Freeman for President?
I also think that his “sudden” appearance on the national stage will only inflate the racists, at least a little bit. If they had had years to pick at him, it might be a bigger non-issue, in that they’d be used to him as a known factor. As is, they might do more of a knee-jerk reaction.
I don’t really think that being Black (or Hispanic) really makes that much difference these days. Obama will rise or fall on his political stance…not the color of his skin. I think some folks are reaching for prejudice in all this. Most likely as a fall back for if the Dem’s, by some miracle of fuck-up-ed-ness, actually manage to lose this election. So they can say “Well, American’s didn’t vote for Obama because he’s black” or “American’s didn’t vote for Hillary because she is a woman” or “American’s didn’t vote for Richardson because he’s Hispanic”…or maybe “American’s didn’t vote for Edwards because he’s an idiot”.
-XT
Only among the active Democrats. The real question is whether or not just being black will lose him the votes of many undecideds, independents, centrists, and wavering Pubs; and, if so, how many.
Total BS. The REAL question is whether his politics will appeal to the majority of American’s. I think not, myself, but YMMV. The color of his skin won’t even be a factor IMHO.
-XT