Outlook: A Dream Deferred?

African Americans May Have to Accept Obama Falling Short

"Never before has a candidate so fully challenged the many inhibitions that have precluded people of all races, including African Americans, from seriously envisioning presidential power in the hands of someone other than a white American. With intelligence, verve and elegance, Obama has opened the public mind to the idea of a black president and made that idea broadly attractive. ... Yet the possibility is very real: Barack Obama could lose. If that happens, then what? How will I feel? How will other black Americans feel?"

Harvard University law professor Randall Kennedy, author of "Sellout: The Politics of Racial Betrayal," was online Monday, Sept. 15, 11 a.m. ET to discuss his Outlook article about the feelings sparked in the African American community by Obama's rise, and how it might react if he isn't elected president in November.

The transcript follows.

Archive: Transcripts of discussions with Outlook article authors

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Randall Kennedy: Thank you for your questions. I look forward to a good discussion.

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Florida: Look, it's not racist to point out that there are reasons not to vote for Obama. His presence on the top of the ticket is obviously a positive step in the country's development, but losing doesn't mean that every person who opposes him is racist. I'm a white conservative who already has voted for a black presidential candidate (Keyes), but I'm voting against Obama on policy grounds ... which is the true sign that he is on an equal footing in the American political process.

Randall Kennedy: I stated in my article that there are non-racial reasons why many people support someone other than Obama. I am not saying, then, that anyone who declines to support him must be racist. I do say, though, that there are an appreciable number of people who have themselves indicated that for racial reasons they will decline to vote for him. In a close election that sliver of the population may have a decisive bearing on the outcome.

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Bloomington, Ind.: I think African Americans are more prepared for Obama's loss than white Americans. They knew from the beginning that a black man couldn't win in this country -- they've been there, seen that. But many white Americans blindly believed that racism was no longer a problem in this country, so we held out hope that America had finally grown up. How will the world view us if we show we haven't learned anything after eight years of George Bush? Do you think Canada will build a fence to keep despondent Americans from crossing the border?

Randall Kennedy: There are two broad traditions of racial commentary in black America. One is the pessimistic tradition. Sadly, there is much in American history that supports this view, the perception that we shall NOT overcome. On the other hand, there is also an optimistic tradition. Frederick Douglass was in this line. So, too, was Martin Luther King, Jr. I embrace the optimistic tradition. There has been undeniable progress in America on the racial front over the past half century. With sustained, intelligent, brave collective action on the part of Americans of all sorts we can achieve yet greater progress in the years to come. Take care. Thanks for writing.

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Lorain, Ohio: Will there be some relief in the black communities if Obama doesn't win? It seems that some of my African American friends do not trust him to set an example for the mainstream black community.

Randall Kennedy: Yes, I note in my piece that there will be some blacks on the left and the right who, for widely disparate reasons, will feel relief in the aftermath of an Obama defeat.

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Obama on par with whites like other Democrat nominees?: Is Obama polling better or worse than Kerry or Gore polled with whites in '00 and '04? If he is polling worse, than we can assume it may be in part to a small percentage of the white population that is letting race affect their views. If he is polling on par with other recent Democratic nominees, than I think we can assume race is playing so small a role that it is not statistically significant. Do you know the answer to this question?

Randall Kennedy: Nice question. I do not know the answer. I would say, though, that the race issue enters the picture even in the absence of a black candidate. One of the reasons that the Democratic Party is now the minority party in the South where it was once overwhelmingly dominant is that the Democratic Party is viewed by a substantial number of whites as "tainted" by its association with blacks. In certain areas the burden of that racial association weighs heavily upon white democrats as well as black democrats.

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Falls Church, Va.: You don't give my fellow voters and me much credit by assuming that if we don't vote Democratic this election it will be because we're racist. Perhaps consider that we might just think that it's not the federal government's job to take care of everyone by distributing my wealth. A Jeffersonian such as myself would say that's the state's job. If I don't sacrifice that fundament of my political opinion, then I will be agitating you?

Randall Kennedy: I say in my piece that there are, of course, non-racial reasons why some people will decline to support Obama. Do you dispute, however, that there are some people who will decline to vote for him for racial reasons?

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Rochester, N.Y.: What do you think happens if Obama wins the popular vote but loses the electoral college?

Randall Kennedy: There will be gnashing of teeth, wringing of hands, and lots of debate over why the electoral college was instituted in the first place and whether it should be continued.

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Falls Church, Va.: One historical trend to perhaps take heart from is that the first presidential candidate to break a barrier often loses, to be followed by a more successful second try. The first anti-slavery candidate, John Fremont, lost, but then Lincoln won. The first Catholic, Al Smith, lost, but John F. Kennedy won. The first Californian, Nixon, lost first but then won. The first woman on a ticket, Ferraro, lost, but the second, Palin, will win if Obama does not. It may be that the electorate often needs a first go-round to "warm up to" a candidate from a historically under-represented group.

Randall Kennedy: Good observation. The idea of a black candidate for the president, however, has been broached before; recall Jesse Jackson's campaigns in the eighties. In terms of the analogy between the first Catholic president and the first black president -- I hope that this year will prove to be 1960 rather than 1928 !

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Virginia: Personally, I find it appalling (if not exactly surprising) that there are many on the left secretly would be pleased by an Obama defeat, because it would validate their views on race in America. It's amazing that people would be more committed to the continuation of a government-sponsored racial spoils system, rather than to the goal of equal opportunity that it was originally intended to alleviate, but I suppose that is often the end result of such structures (it also applies to government programs to aid businesses and the environment).

As for the idiot racists who say they won't consider voting for Obama because he is black, it is worth noting that their racial views may be an important factor in making their choice, but not the only factor. To really determine whether Obama's race alone might cost him the election, you essentially would have to ask them if they would vote for someone with Obama's exact record and views, but with different pigmentation. I would guess that many of them still would vote for McCain or someone else, even if Obama were white.

Randall Kennedy: Infrequently is race the "only" reason for an act or omission. Illicit racial discrimination is present even if race is one of several reasons for declining to vote for a person. If an employer would hire a black person who scored 100 but would hire a white person who scored 80, race would not be the only variable in the employer's calculation. After all, he would be willing to hire certain blacks -- those that could score 100. Yet this employer would still be engaging in racial discrimination that we should disapprove.

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Northwest Washington: Randall said: "Yes, I note in my piece that there will be some blacks on the left and the right who, for widely disparate reasons, will feel relief in the aftermath of an Obama defeat." Interesting! Can you tell us what are some of those reasons? Thanks!

Randall Kennedy: I answer your question in my article. Some black conservatives and leftists would be relieved by an Obama defeat because both camps think, for totally different reasons, that his policies would be bad for the country.

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