Researcher: Evidence shows racism in opposition to Obama

It's one of the most inflammatory accusations in today's polarized political arena: the suggestion that criticism of President Barack Obama is motivated by racism.

The argument has simmered since before Obama became president, but with neither side producing concrete evidence.

Recently, however, some political scientists have developed new ideas about what racism actually is or how to measure it in polls. Based on those ideas, one researcher has analyzed polling data that he says offers the evidence: Negative opinions of Obama are, in fact, influenced by racism.

That conclusion, by Alan Abramowitz of Emory University, is controversial among other political scientists who study race in politics.

What's being measured by these polling questions isn't really racism, said Edward Carmines of Indiana University in Bloomington.

"What they really measure is positions on policy – particularly programs designed to help African-Americans," he said. "It's confusing to equate that with racism."

Abramowitz, who has written extensively about elections and voter behavior, acknowledged, "There's quite a lot of contention about this."

But after the civil rights movement and decades of attempts to eliminate racism, he said, polls can't measure "traditional racism," belief in black inferiority or discrimination.

"Even if people have those attitudes, they know they're not supposed to express them," he said – but that doesn't mean racism has disappeared.

He and others look for "new racism," or "racial resentment" – whether poll respondents agree or disagree with such statements as, "If blacks would only try harder they could be just as well off as whites," or "Generations of slavery and discrimination have created conditions that make it difficult for blacks to work their way out of the lower class."

They contend these measure whether whites believe blacks or other minorities aren't fully American or don't fully accept American values, sometimes citing the anti-Obama "birther" movement as an example.

Other researchers have studied whether this so-called new racism affected 2008 voters. But Abramowitz said his study was the first to look at opinions of Obama's performance in office.

Last fall, one of the most respected polling projects done in the nation, the American National Election Studies, included racial resentment questions. Abramowitz compared the answers to respondents' views on Obama.

He found that among white respondents, those with a low level of racial resentment gave Obama an average approval rating of 7.4 out of 10.

Those with a high level of resentment averaged 3.2 ratings of Obama.

Regardless whether people called themselves Republicans, Democrats, liberals or conservatives, the higher the racial resentment, the lower they rated Obama.

"It's not necessarily definitive, but it's at least a first step with some actual data," he said.

Carmines, who has written two books on race in politics, acknowledged that racial animosity "undergirds some aspects of white resentment toward President Obama."

But, he said, "The question is how much. I think it's a fairly minor factor."

University of Florida political scientist Stephen Craig also disagreed.

He co-authored a 2008 polling project that showed that regardless of political orientation, Florida voters were more likely to be proud, rather than angry, that a black man was running for and then elected president, he said.

Obama himself has often rejected the notion that his political opposition was based on race.

At the outset of his campaign, he told an Associated Press interviewer that a black candidate might "spark some curiosity," but added, "I think very quickly people will be judging me on the merits. … And if they do, then I think race won't be a major factor."

In September 2009, with criticism over his health care proposal at a fever pitch, he told ABC News, "Are there people out there who don't like me because of race? I'm sure there are. That's not the overriding issue here."

There are Republicans and Democrats on both sides of the argument.

Steve Schale, Obama's top 2008 Florida strategist, disagreed that criticism of Obama is heavily influenced by racism.

"To say there aren't still racial tensions in the country would be naïve," he said, "but I don't think race is a driving factor. Hard-core Republicans have disliked Democratic presidents for generations, and hard-core Democrats have disliked Republican ones for generations."

Republican Hillsborough County Commissioner Mark Sharpe, a former congressional candidate cited black candidates popular with the GOP's right wing – potential GOP presidential candidate Herman Cain and U.S. Rep. Allen West of Deerfield Beach.

"People used to argue about whether Republicans would support a woman, but then Sarah Palin became the rock star," he noted. "Among the politically active, I believe what is paramount is not the race but the ideology. For many, health care is what has driven a lot of people."

But Stanley Gray, a retired Marine captain and consultant from South Tampa who's active in the local Republican Party, takes the other side.

"Some of the bantering about Obama's performance is politics, but some of it is pure racism," said Gray, who said that as a black man he experiences what he considers racial slights in some political conversations.

Obama, he said, is "operating in a realm that people are not comfortable with. The issue of race is very much a factor in our nation and in his evaluation."

Pat Kemp, former chairman of the local Democratic Party, agreed.

Race, she said, "has colored our whole history, it's deeply ingrained in who we are – that hasn't just all disappeared."

To critics including those in the birther movement, "Obama is someone that's not one of us," she said. "I don't think everyone who doesn't like Obama is a racist, but it's an underlying factor for some."

wmarch@tampatrib.com

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