So Far, Obama Can't Take Black Vote for Granted

At long last comes a black Presidential candidate who appeals to a large number of whites, but he's not black enough for some black leaders?!  Gimme a break!  No wonder some people think "black leadership" is an oxymoron...

The black author and essayist Debra J. Dickerson recently declared that “Obama isn’t black” in an American racial context. Some polls suggest that Mr. Obama trails one of his rivals for the Democratic nomination, Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton, in the battle for African-American support...

But among many blacks, the awkward and painful debate about race, immigrant heritage and the presidency has been bubbling for months.

Mr. Obama certainly has prominent black supporters and many shake their heads with exasperation at such talk about a man they see as the first African-American with a real shot at the presidency.

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So Far, Obama Can’t Take Black Vote for Granted

By RACHEL L. SWARNS

Published: February 2, 2007, NYT

www.nytimes.com/2007/02/02/us/politics/02obama.html

 

WASHINGTON, Feb. 1 — He is hailed by his supporters as the hope of an increasingly multicultural nation, a political phenomenon who can wow white voters while carrying the aspirations of African-Americans all the way to the White House.