The Living Consequences

The Washington Post has a delightful story this morning about the reactions of older black citizens, particularly those in their 90s, to the possibility that Barack Obama may be elected president on Tuesday.

The article highlights the story of Ruth Worthy, who is 91 years old and grew up in a middle-class household in Boston. The daughter of a doctor, she was the first black to work at the post office in Boston and attended Bridgewater State College in Massachusetts.

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This post addresses the fact that the families of both Barack Obama and John McCain owned slaves. This week, I’ve encountered a number of questions about that slave-owning past and its significance today.

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Barack Obama appeared for an interview on Jon Stewart’s The Daily Show on Wednesday night, and I thought the following exchange about the Bradley effect was particularly funny.

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There are polls this week suggesting that McCain may be gaining a bit of ground nationally, and even that the presidential race may be fairly close. This is true, but also misleading, at least in part.

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I said it yesterday, in a slightly different context, and I’ll say it again today.

This election is historic, in that a black candidate is making a serious run for the presidency (and is favored to win, no less) and that should mean something to all of us. This is true, regardless of which presidential candidate you believe can best lead the nation.

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I don’t think it matters which presidential candidate you believe would best lead the country. This story should move us all, and illustrates why this election is truly historic, regardless of who wins (or should win).

Amanda Jones lives in Bastrop County, Texas, and is 109 years old.

She’s also the daughter of a slave, and has just cast an early vote for Barack Obama for president.

“I feel good about voting for him,” Mrs. Jones said.

Her father herded sheep as a slave, and she has now lived long enough to vote for a black candidate for president.

Colin Powell, in his endorsement of Barack Obama moments ago on NBC’s Meet the Press, offered a bit of welcome honesty on the subject of our nation’s attitude towards those of other races and religions.

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As we’re all aware, the momentum of the presidential campaign has shifted significantly towards Obama in recent weeks. As of today, for example, Obama leads McCain in the national polls by as much as fourteen percentage points (53% to 39%), compared with gaps of four or five points as recently as a week earlier.

This is, of course, exactly what political scientists have been predicting, based on such large, external factors as the economic situation and the party currently in power.

The big questions now are whether Obama’s current lead in the polls will hold up over the next three weeks, and whether or not this lead is likely to translate into victory on Election Day.

This post won’t address the first question, which boils down to whether, and how, voter sentiment might change dramatically between now and November 4. Instead, I want to address the second question: how has Obama’s recent surge in the polls affected the map of the Electoral College?

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Senator Barack Obama has clinched the Democratic nomination for president of the United States, based on a conservative Associated Press tally of delegates.

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I want to offer up this passage by Senator Obama, on his racial and ethnic background and experiences, and implicitly, how he tends to view race and ethnicity in our society:

As the child of a black man and white woman, born in the melting pot of Hawaii, with a sister who is half-Indonesian, but who is usually mistaken for Mexican, and a brother-in-law and niece of Chinese descent, with some relatives who resemble Margaret Thatcher and others who could pass for Bernie Mac, I never had the option of restricting my loyalties on the basis of race or measuring my worth on the basis of tribe.

— Senator Barack Obama, The Audacity of Hope, p. 231

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