Wherefore Art Thou, Racism?

Not that I'm clamoring for it, but one of the strange things in this election has been the unexpected ways in which racism has appeared (and not).

Some observers expected to see the so-called "Bradley Effect" whereby Obama would end up doing worse than predicted by pre-election polls; according to this view, some white voters would rather tell a pollster they would vote for the black guy/gal than admit that they harbor negative feelings about that candidate. However, as Nate Silver quite comprehensively demonstrates, this effect appears to have been vastly overstated for this election cycle.

Which is not to say that racism is entirely absent. Indeed, just a short search on YouTube brings up disturbing videos from recent political rallies where people say nasty things about the Democratic candidate. Some old hate groups have resurfaced in certain parts of the country (h/t to Ben Smith). My point is not to hash out how prevalent racism is, but merely to marvel at how economic conditions have so soured that even some that are racist are actually considering voting for Obama. Ben Smith has a great story today that explores this phenomenon:

Anecdotes from across the battlegrounds suggest that there’s a significant minority of prejudiced white voters who will swallow hard and vote for the black man.

“I wouldn’t want a mixed marriage for my daughter, but I’m voting for Obama,” the wife of a retired Virginia coal miner, Sharon Fleming, told the Los Angeles Times recently.

One Obama volunteer told Politico after canvassing the working-class white Philadelphia neighborhood of Fishtown recently, "I was blown away by the outright racism, but these folks are … undecided. They would call him a [racial epithet] and mention how they don't know what to do because of the economy.”

The notion that there might be “racists for Obama,” as one Democrat called them, comes against the backdrop of a country whose white voters largely accept the notion of a black president.

“The economy is trumping racism,” said Kurt Schmoke, the dean of Howard University Law School and a former Baltimore mayor. “A lot of people who we might think wouldn’t vote their pocketbook because of race — now they are.”

“If you go to a white neighborhood in the suburbs and ask them, ‘How would you feel about a large black man kicking your door in,’ they would say, ‘That doesn’t sound good to me,’” said Democratic political consultant Paul Begala. “But if you say, 'Your house is on fire, and the firefighter happens to be black,' it’s a different situation.”

“The house is on fire, and one guy seems like he’s calm and confident and in charge, and that’s the only option,” he said.

But, my favorite anecdote (and my real reason for writing all this) comes via fivethirtyeight.com:

So a canvasser goes to a woman's door in Washington, Pennsylvania. Knocks. Woman answers. Knocker asks who she's planning to vote for. She isn't sure, has to ask her husband who she's voting for. Husband is off in another room watching some game. Canvasser hears him yell back, "We're votin' for the n***er!"

Woman turns back to canvasser, and says brightly and matter of factly: "We're voting for the n***er."

In this economy, racism is officially a luxury.

Hey, does it really matter whether behavioral change follows attitude change or if it happens in reverse? As one of Nixon's henchmen once said, "If you've got them by the balls, their hearts and minds will follow."