I spent a few days in North Carolina recently. I have watched that state for years. In 1965 I taught high school in Durham and since then I have visited there often. I feel that the state has made a lot of progress since 1965. Thus I was startled when I read an article from the News & Observer of Raleigh on Friday (10/31).
There was a front page article with the title "Blacks and whites alike see Obama's run in shades of gray." Under a photograph of a white man on the front page was the following quote, "I'm not a prejudiced person, but it's really...a black and-white situation ...I'd rather see a woman than him." The full quote which is printed inside follows this statement from the same man, "I think he's a young punk and he's arrogant, I'm not ready for his type for president." The conversation with this white man disappointed me a lot. Putting his photograph on the front page with his statement, made me think that the paper regards him as a typical North Carolinian or certainly not one of the extremes. There is a photograph of a white woman in connection with this same article with her statement "I think more of us are worried about religion. It's not race; it really isn't" There is no discussion of what she is talking about, but I don't think we have to guess.
I should add that the article interviewed others, both black and white. There was a second photo on the front page. That was of an African American woman who said, "Now for us as blacks, this is a monumental thing to have a black man in office."
I hope that North Carolina shows me on Tuesday that it has come a long way from what I knew in 1965. I have been saying this for a long time, but seeing the front page article in the News and Observer made me feel like I was back in 1965.
P.S. Here's the link. http://www.newsobserver.com/2192/story/1276634.html
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