Issues of Race - The Economist

Democracy in America the blog in The Economist about the upcoming US Elections, put out an interview with Michael Dawson. The question raised is: in how far do issues of race play a part in the Presidential Elections. In other words, do people vote for Obama because he is black and are there people who will not vote for him, because he is black?

Dawson claims race is, generally still an issue in the US. There are scars, there are glass ceilings and this needs to be discussed in his opinion. However, progressives and liberals have been trying to sort of ignore those issues; making it go away by no longer addressing it. They think there is racial equality, where Dawson thinks there is not.

Obama is perceived as black and consequently his race plays a part, but does this go for a substantial group of voters? Dawson think this is substantial, but for each subgroup the dynamic is different. His explanations make this podcast, though short, for me a very informative opening up of the issues of race in the elections.

More from the Economist:
The primary system,
The Economist in New Hampshire,
A biography for Barack Obama and one for Hillary Clinton,
The Economist podcast.