It has been 40 years since the assassination ofDr. Martin Luther King Jr. The year 1968 was a turbulent year not only for the civil rights movement, but it was also the year racial politics became a permanent part of the presidential campaign playbook. During the 2008 presidential election, race has become the “elephant in the room.” However, it is our best opportunity yet to heal the nation?s racial divide.
Yes, racial politics have always been around in presidential elections. In the 1800s, slavery and Reconstruction-era policies dominated political party platforms. In the early 1900s, race riots and the migration of African-Americans played a role in campaigns. In the 1950s, issues including the integration of schools and the armed services were part of presidential elections. During the 1960 election, Sen. John F. Kennedy was viewed as the best hope for racial progress because of his perceived intervention to secure King?s release from a four-month jail sentence in Atlanta during a demonstration. During the 1964 election, Sen. Barry Goldwater?s “extremism in the defense of liberty is no vice” comment was viewed by many to condone the Ku Klux Klan.
In the election of 1968, Richard Nixon?s theme of “law and order” was a promise to white voters that rising crime rates and unsafe streets would not be tolerated during his presidency. To reinforce that theme, Nixon selected Maryland?s Gov. Spiro Agnew as his vice president. During the 1968 riots, Gov. Agnew summoned civil rights leaders to a meeting and publicly lectured the leaders by insinuating they were “moral cowards” for not condemning those rioting in the streets. His “lecture” received widespread national attention.
Also, Alabama Gov. George Wallace ran for president on the platform of segregation. Wallace appealed to blue-collar Democrats tired of the demonstrations and “anti-American” rhetoric from “pointy-headed intellectuals.” Vice President Hubert Humphrey was a champion for civil rights and the “peace” candidate. After Nixon?s victory that year, he admitted to being inspired to bridge the racial gap when he saw a sign held up by a teenager in Ohio during the election that read “Bring Us Together.”
After this year?s presidential election, the immediate challenge for the next president is to “bring us together.” The economy, the war in Iraq, trade policy, health care and tax cuts have been the dominant issues for this election. But make no mistake; race is the “giant elephant in the room.” Early in the primary season, Sen. Barack Obama was dismissed as a candidate who would only appeal to the African-American Democratic voters who make up approximately 25 percent of the Democratic vote nationally. However, after winning Iowa, Missouri, Colorado, Connecticut, Idaho and North Carolina, Sen. Obama is within reach of becoming the first African-American to be a major party nominee for president. The “black candidate” label has been ripped away.
As we near the end of the primary process, however, the racial overtones have become sharper and more troubling. First it was argued that Sen. Obama had a “thin resume” to become president and should settle for the vice president?s slot despite the fact he is ahead in delegates and popular votes. Second, Sen. Hillary Clinton and the Democratic establishment are now wondering out loud whether Sen. Obama can win the general election because he cannot appeal to blue-collar Democrats as evidenced by results in Pennsylvania and Ohio ? crucial battleground states in the general election.
The constant chatter and attention focused on Sen. Obama?s former pastor Jeremiah Wright has added more fuel to the racial political fire in the final weeks of the primaries and certainly for the upcoming general election.
Whoever ends up becoming our next president will have plenty of work to do as it relates to the economy, foreign policy and health care. However, the biggest challenge the next president will face is “bringing us together” to heal the racial divide. The world will be watching.
Keiffer J. Mitchell Jr. is a former Baltimore City councilman and a Barack Obama delegate to the 2008 Democratic National Convention. Reach him at [email protected].
