Race and the 2008 U.S. Presidential Election

Race = A category of persons who are identified by themselves and by others as having a socially meaningful distinctiveness that rests on biological criteria.

Race and the 2008 U.S. Presidential ElectionRace = A category of persons who are identified by themselves and by others as having a socially meaningful distinctiveness that rests on biological criteria.

Racial categories are hard to define because… It is difficult to establish the threshold at which one is considered a member of a “racial category.”

Recognition of official racial categories – such as „mixed” races -- changes.

Race can largely be considered to be socially constructed, though it is clear people differ in terms of their physiognomic traits.

Ethnic Group = A social group or category having a socially meaningful distinctiveness that rests on cultural criteria.

Median Income ($)

Below Poverty

Level (%)

Health Coverage

Status: Uninsured

(%)White non-Hispanic

54,920 8.2 10.4

Black 33,916 24.5 19.5

Hispanic (any race)

38,679 21.5 32.1

From U.S. Census 2007 Data found at: http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p60-235.pdf

Racial Disparities in the U.S. (2007)

Percent Completed High School 1993 – 2007 by Race

From Table A.2 http://www.census.gov/population/www/socdemo/education/cps2007.html

Registered Of Registered Who Voted

Not Eligible to Votea

White non-Hispanic

71.2 72.5 4.8

Black 60.9 67.3 8

Hispanic (any race)

53.7 60.1 12

a Based on question of why the respondent did not vote.http://www.census.gov/prod/2008pubs/p20-557.pdf

Race and Voting 2006 (%)

http://pewresearch.org/pubs/773/fewer-voters-identify-as-republicans

RacismRacism = An elaborate ideology holding that one race is biologically superior and that all others are biologically inferior to it. This doctrine regards the unequal economic and social positions of different races as the outcome of their genetic differences.

“New RacismNew Racism” supplants “cultural” for “biological” in the above definition.

See also Ethnic Hatred, Xenophobia

Critical Questions Regarding Race and Ethnicity and the 2008 Presidential Election

1. Why do some people believe Obama is Muslim, and why does it matter?

2. What race is Obama, or, Why is Obama labeled as black?

3. How is race used in this election?

September 11, 2001 changed how Americans view Muslims and Arabs and radically changed U.S. political discourse

How Some of Obama’s Detractors Want to Portray Obama:

Barack Hussein Obama

The Truth about Barack Hussein Obama is:

How is Race Used in the 2008 Presential Election?

Ways of „playing the race card”

Race-as-Negative: Using racial codes to remind voters that race influences how Obama thinks and acts, and of their prejudices against blacks.

Race-as-Positive: Racial codes to remind people that race influences how Obama thinks and acts is a good thing, that Obama stands for the valued ideal of racial equality, the fulfillment of the American Dream, that he represents the best of (mainstream) black leadership in America.

Race-baiting 1: Accusing others of using race-as-negative, that the accused is guilty of a morally bad thing.

Race-baiting 2: Accusing others of using race-as-positive, that it is improper to bring in race in this situation.

How does Obama profit from being labeled as Black?

How does Obama profit from “playing the race card?”

How does McCain profit from “playing the race card?”

Who would profit more? Obama or McCain?

Critical questions about this critical question: