The candidacy of Barack Obama, who was the first black man won U.S. presidential nomination of a major party, has raised hopes among blacks and whites for a better racial relationship, a new poll finds.
The USA TODAY/Gallup poll of nearly 2,000 Americans, released here Monday, also shows a third of both black and white respondents say the defeat of the first black to win a major party's presidential nomination would worsen race relations.
The survey underscores the unusual stakes in this election even though neither Democrat Obama nor Republican John McCain has sought to cast their contest as a matter of racial politics but rather one of different prescriptions for the nation.
U.S. Senator and Democratic Presidential candidate Barack Obama (D-IL), speaks at the National Council of La Raza convention at San Diego's Convention Center July 13, 2008. Obama is slightly ahead of McCain in Gallup's daily nationwide tracking poll, 46 to 43 percent.
"Much of the Obama campaign has been fueled by hope that if he is successful he could address the most divisive issue in American politics, which is the issue of race," says political scientist Vincent Hutchings of the University of Michigan, but he says blacks and whites have conflicting perspectives on what that means.
"Many blacks look to Obama to help address issues of racial inequality," Hutchings says.
"For many whites, Obama's success is Exhibit A that racism or racial barriers are not entirely evaporated but are really not a major problem in America any more," he adds.
Source:Xinhua
Comment
Tell A Friend
Print Format
Save Article