Opinion: In Kentucky, a look at the white vote Barack Obama won’t get
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With the subject of sexism much in the news so far this week (see here), the Chicago Tribune has a story today out of Munfordville, Ky., that casts the spotlight on racism. Here’s its lead:
Mike Rife is white, a semiretired factory worker with a high school education and a 2-foot-square sign on his lawn that makes friends and neighbors flip him the finger as they drive by.The sign reads: ‘Obama for President.’’I think I almost know what it feels like to be a black guy,’ said Rife, his voice gravelly and defiant. ‘I take heat every day. I got an Obama sticker on my car, and I catch hell for it.’
The rest can be read here.
Last week, the Washington Post cast a slightly wider net, writing about examples of racism encountered by Barack Obama’s campaign workers in Indiana and Pennsylvania. The story, which can be read here, noted that campaign officials ‘say such incidents are isolated, that the experience of most volunteers and staffers has been overwhelmingly positive.’
-- Don Frederick