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More Self-Loathing Racist Votes

By LisaB on June 5, 2008 at 5:43 AM in Barack Obama, CNN, Hillary Clinton, Puerto Rico, Race, Race Card

Well, it had to happen. Another large group of people went for Hillary and now they get to join the “bitter, uneducated [and largely old] white” people clinging to guns and religion.

Can you guess who our newest racists are? Surprise, surprise! It’s Puerto Rico!!!!! Congratulations, Puerto Rico. Now, you’ll notice that no one actually says “Puerto Rico is racist.” But, hey, let’s just review what’s been said, shall we?

The CNN [Puerto Rico] exit poll results are now in and it appears that the ugly racial fissures which have so dogged the Democratic Party in recent primary contests are set to continue.  Matching the previous high (in Mississippi), 31 percent of voters said race was a factor in their vote.  Of those, 63 percent voted for Clinton and 37 percent for Obama.

How do we explain the prominence of race in the Puerto Rico primary?  According to scholars, many Puerto Ricans deny their cultural heritage and physical characteristics and buy into an ideology of “whitening” through intermarriage with light skinned groups.  As I pointed out in a recent article on this site, 81 per cent  of Puerto Ricans called themselves “white” on the 2000 U.S. census. 

All of which is not to say that the Puerto Rico result was a foregone conclusion.  Perhaps, if the island had voted in February and not in June then the outcome would have been different.  What I suspect happened was that the media, by hyping the recent Jeremiah Wright story, turned voters against Obama and brought some latent racism to the surface.  In a sense it’s not so different from what occurred during the West Virginia primary when the media and the Clinton campaign exploited the Wright controversy to win over white voters. 

The  Clinton camp now seems intent on exacerbating Latino-Black tensions yet further by arguing that Obama has a Latino problem.

Apparently, Puerto Ricans are not only in denial about their own racial make-up but are racists to boot. And they showed their racist colors just like West Virginia did. Oh, you say you’re NOT racist? So sorry, once you’re labeled, that’s it and personal preference, actual visits from the candidates and any other lame excuse you see fit to give just won’t cut it.

Welcome to the club, Puerto Rico. We’ve got your guns, religion and free cups of bitterness right here!