Indexing Race in the US at the Dawn of the “Age of Obama”

Guest Columnist

Indexing Race in the US at the Dawn of the “Age of Obama”

Andrew Grant-Thomas
Deputy Director
Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity

Date on which Ireland’s largest bookmaker started paying off bets on Barack Obama
as the next president of the United States: October 16, 2008.

Percentage of South Koreans who told Gallup in 2008 that who won the
US presidential election would matter to their country: 79%.

Percentage of Mexicans who said this: 35%.

Value of US exports of corn, Mexico’s staple crop and largest
source of rural employment, to Mexico in 2006: $2.5 billion.

Estimated number of years it will take for the black-white homeownership
gap to disappear if current trends continue: 1,664.

Child poverty rates of non-Hispanic whites, African Americans, American Indians/Alaska Natives, Asian Americans and Latinos, respectively, in 2007: 11, 35, 33, 12 and 27 percent.

Rank of the US among the 30 most affluent countries in life expectancy: 24.

Rank of the US among all countries in health care expenditure: 1.

Year in which the Supreme Court declared bans on “interracial” marriage unconstitutional: 1967.

Change in the number of interracial marriages between 1960 and 2000: +832%.

Percentage of whites, according to a recent ABC News Poll, who think of themselves
first as Americans, rather than as members of a racial group: 87%.

Percentage of African Americans who do: 51%.

Rise in the percentage of African Americans who think of themselves first
as Americans between September 2008 and January 2009: +5%.

Percentage of Democrats who think Obama will help race relations in the United States: 75%.

Percentage of Republicans who think so: 43%.

People of color as a proportion of the US population: 35 in 100.

People of color as a proportion of the last 100 million additions to the US population: 66 in 100.

Number of US Senators who are non-Hispanic white men: 78 in 100.

Percentage of all US Senate employees in 2006 who were people of color: 6.

Number of US presidents: 44.

Number of US presidents who have not been white men: 1.

Posted at 9:59 AM, Jan 27, 2009 in Obama | Permalink | View Comments

Comments

"Percentage of whites, according to a recent ABC News Poll, who think of themselves
first as Americans, rather than as members of a racial group: 87%.
Percentage of African Americans who do: 51%."

I just wanted to point out that when we talk about the ways people identify themselves, it is important to recognize that nationalism is just as dangerous and separatist as race-identification. Ranking our national identification in a hierarchy above race still keeps people divided. The nation functions, just as much as racism, to keep capitalism and oppression alive and well.

This statistic also points out the privilege that whites obtain by not identifying themselves with their race. Whites are not forced to think about what their skin color does for them, because they are taught to believe it's all for the best. They are not oppressed by people because of their race. They are not forced to realize the negative effects of their privilege.

Whites don't see how destructive it is to associate with a nation like the US. Blacks, and all people of color, experience that destruction, thus are more hesitant to embrace being "American". Not that this jackass has any clue what he meant when he said this, I still think it ironically applies... "Here in America we are descended in blood and in spirit from revolutionists and rebels--men and women who dare to dissent from accepted doctrine. As their heirs, we may never confuse honest dissent with disloyal subversion." -Dwight D. Eisenhower, May 31, 1954