Racial amnesia may be the cure

The Boston Globe
By Anita F. Hill October 29, 2008

MANY OF US who advocate for civil rights lament the fact that the country seems to have forgotten the role race has played in the American experience. We even accuse America of suffering from racial amnesia. Yet, racial amnesia may help Barack Obama and other Democrats on Election Day.
When some Americans remember race, they are reminded of why they and their parents started voting Republican. As President Lyndon Johnson predicted, the exodus began when he supported the Civil Rights Act of 1964. Even as many in the country were pushing back from racist behavior, those who rejected the federal government's authority to usher in social change captured a portion of the country's political imagination. For them, the laws enacted in the 1960s represented unwarranted government interference on many fronts, and actually contributed to the racial divisions.
States throughout the South abandoned the Democratic Party. Border states and states in the Midwest followed suit, ending histories of straight Democratic Party line representation. Economic concerns played a part as well. But as Sam Gibbons, a Democrat from Florida, observed in 1994, "Republicans have been able to capitalize on [race], creating what is, in effect, an all-white party."
With some, the 1960s' concept of race's relationship to their political choices still holds sway. In 2004, George W. Bush slightly altered the party's racial profile by capturing 44 percent of the Latino vote, but many questioned whether that was an anomaly.
Not surprisingly, because my reality was different, my recollections from the 1960s differ from those who fled the party. I recall a country that rejected Jim Crow laws and committed government resources to assist underfunded and outmanned civil rights champions in overturning centuries of neglect and oppression.
The booming economy of the period played a critical role in encouraging feelings of benevolence. We could afford to put aside racial differences and spread resources like jobs and education. Still, we are yet to come to a consensus on what the reality of race was even then.
Today, as the economy continues to slide, government intervention is not only necessary, it is also desirable. In this context, many are ready to put race aside.
Nearly two generations since that initial shift in voting patterns, some racial memories are either fading or being altered. In a recent CNN poll, 7 out of 10 said that race is not a factor in their decision in the presidential election.
Obama is poised to change America's electoral map by being the first Democratic nominee in decades to win in Virginia, Iowa, and Indiana. Hispanic voters, who helped Bush capture Colorado and New Mexico, favor Obama over John McCain. Democrats in North Carolina, Mississippi, and Alabama may take congressional seats even though Obama may not carry the states.
Regardless of one's political leaning, most would acknowledge that the country is aware of its racial and ethnic diversity, and that for most Americans the stark contrast between the "black experience" and the "white experience" no longer exists. [To read the entire editorial, go to: http://www.boston.com/bostonglobe/editorial_opinion/oped/articles/2008/10/29/racial_amnesia_may_be_the_cure/]