Race, Religion and the 2008 Presidential Election

In “The Other: Dimensions of Resistance to Obama’s Candidacy” Michael Hays argues that prejudices and personalities will most likely determine the outcome of the presidential election. He claims that a sizable minority is still “operationally prejudiced against blacks”. This racism has survived thanks to churches tolerating or ignoring the prejudices of their congregations. Hays points out that these are the same churches that did little to progress the civil rights movement. Prominent civil rights leaders, such as Martin Luther King Jr. condemned these churches for their failure to recognize the immorality of segregation and their interest in “order” (Washington 295) rather than the presence of justice. Hays, like King, is perplexed by the Church’s ability to accept racism even though “prejudice defies God” and rejects the “fundamental religious junction to love one’s enemy”. This racism along with prejudices stemming from Obama’s Islamic name have resulted in the construction of the “other”. Hays claims Obama’s ability to overcome this construction will determine the outcome of the election. Although I agree with Hays that there is still a large minority that seems to foster racist sentiments, I think he places too much emphasis on the construction of the “other” in this election. He claims that if Obama doesn’t win then America’s “darkest secret” (referring to racism) will be revealed. There are a few implications to this statement. First, it assumes that, in a close election, race will be the ultimate factor. This is quite naïve given the current economic crisis and wars in Afghanistan and Iraq which he concedes in the first paragraph as important issues in this election. Second, the majority of America does not foster the prejudices that are discussed in the op-ed (which is evident in his description of the racists as a “sizable minority”) so if Obama were not to win the entire nation would somehow be diagnosed with bigotry. Finally, if Obama does win, does that mean that everyone in America has overcome the race issue? Aren’t the bigots still attending the same churches and fostering the same prejudices?

Washington, James Melvin. A Testament of Hope; The Essential Writings and Speeches of Martin Luther King, Jr.. New York: HarperCollins Publisher, 1991. Religion