Obama Shook on the Race Card

Carefully avoided by the two candidates so far, the racial question invited itself into the American campaign. Heckled by black activists during a meeting, Barack Obama promised to do something about the discriminations. This exchange was broadcast in a loop on television channels and shows that this theme is sensitive in the country.

It is the great success of the times for American television screens. A video of a Barack Obama meeting, Friday, in Florida, runs a loop showing the Illinois senator heckled by three young activists of the black cause. During a full speech on the American economy, a small group unfolded a banner on which was written, “What about the black community, Obama?” in French, “Qu’as tu fait pour la communauté noir, Obama?”. The Democratic candidate for the presidential race does not see it, but the chants of his supporters directed against the three activists mount. Calmly, Obama turns and says to the disruptive people that he will answer them at the end of the meeting, in the course of a question-and-answer session. “You don’t want to disrupt the whole meeting. Just be courteous,” he asks them, calmly calling back the order of the public who sing, “Yes, we can.”

Always at ease when it is about calming down the public, Barack Obama returns to the end of his speech, as promised, to the accusations of his three detractors. They take the floor and bite the senator where it hurts: the racial question. The black community is harassed by lenders in the wake of the crisis sub primes, it is the victim of police violence and numerous counts of discrimination, explain the activists, accusing the candidate of having proposed nothing regarding these subjects.

A New Campaign Theme

The elected Democrat begins a sentence, stutters, and corrects himself. “I think that you have been misinformed.” As a lawyer in specializing in civil rights and as a senator, he believes he “referred to the injustices suffered by the black community numerous times.” “I denounced the last two years and I worked to pass legislation against the devices of aggressive credit,” answers Obama. Then, he gently takes part in the group of activists and explains that perhaps he had not acted as they had wished and that, in this case, they had to vote for someone else, even present themselves for elections. “The only way that we’re gonna resolve our problems in this country, is if all of us come together – Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, young, old, disabled, gay, straight – that, I think, has got to be our agenda. Alright?” he says. The crowd was conquered; it yelled in chorus “Yes, he can.” The activists, meanwhile, had no right to respond.

The racial question emerged this week in the electoral campaign and that is why the exchange between Obama and three opponents had so much weight in the United States. The Illinois senator opened the hostilities by accusing his opponent, John McCain, of trying to frighten voters by building up that he had a “funny name and did not resemble presidents who appeared on five dollar bills.” A ping-pong game began: “Barack Obama played the race card (…) That creates divisions, is negative, shameful and wrong,” replied the Republican candidate. Obama concluded Saturday by explaining that McCain’s campaign was not “racist,” but “cynical.” Although the two candidates defend themselves, the racial question invited itself to the campaign. And nothing says that it is favorable to Barack Obama. In the course of the primaries, a poll had demonstrated that white workers in certain key states have been diverted from the senator because of his race.