Williams/Zogby Poll: Americans' Attitudes Changing Towards Multiracial Candidates

Zogby via BBSNews 2006-12-22 -- A new Williams Identity Survey conducted by Zogby International recently revealed Americans' changing attitudes towards multiracial candidates, including Presidential hopeful Senator Barack Obama (D-IL).

Barack Obama (D-Il). Image Credit: va.gov.

"We've come a long way since NBC News correspondent Sander Vanocur coined race as ‘the dirty little secret of American politics'," said Mark Williams, creator of the Williams Identity Survey, bestselling author of The 10 Lenses, Your Guide to Living and Working in a Multicultural World and the soon to be released Fit In: The Unofficial Guide to Corporate Culture, and founder of Identity Online, a new media company dedicated to the education, exploration and entertainment in the areas of identity and multiculturalism.

More than half (55 percent) of whites classified Obama as biracial after being told that Obama's mother is white and his Kenyan father is black. Likewise, 61 percent of Hispanics also saw Obama as biracial, the Williams Identity Survey conducted by Zogby International shows. The Zogby Interactive survey polled 2,155 adults from Nov. 1-2, 2006. The poll contained a margin of error of +/- 2.2 percentage points.

For blacks, the Obama candidacy is viewed differently as the Illinois Democrat cannot escape the nation's past racial history. Sixty-six percent of blacks that responded to the interactive poll classified Obama as black.

Williams warned, "Even though we've come a long way, we've not completely moved beyond the ‘One Drop Rule,' the segregation-era notion that even a tiny percentage of non-white ancestry ('one drop of non-white blood') classified a person as ‘colored'. "

Obama, the son of a Kenyan father and white mother, is entering the national stage at a time when the United States is undergoing rapid demographic change. Whites, especially, seem desirous to put the nation's contorted racial past behind them. Overall, the vast majority (63%) say that racial identity should not be an issue anymore -- that figure grows to 70% among whites.

"Obama's potential entry into Presidential politics is fortuitous, as it coincides with this changing demography," explained John Kenneth White, professor of political science at The Catholic University of America, in his analysis of the Williams Identity Survey results. "To be sure, the future face of America is a blurred one whose skin tone is some form of beige. The question of racial self-identification is hardly new, as evidenced by the U.S. Census, and the implications many."

Williams says Obama's heritage offers him the rare opportunity for a perfect political "trifecta": Obama is a reflection of changing American demographics, a non-threatening, accomplished figure with broad appeal like former Secretary of State Colin Powell, and a symbol of black pride and progress, all rolled into one, if he can manage to hold together the delicate balance that will be required of him.

"The survey raises many important questions should Obama pursue the nomination," Williams said. "Will the racial perceptions of whites and Hispanics change as more attention is paid to Obama's background? Look at the recent flack about his middle name, Hussein."

Williams is reminded of the November Senate race in Tennessee: Rep. Harold Ford, a well-educated, articulate young black candidate like Obama, found himself the victim of an egregious race-baiting television ad that played to racial stereotypes and tensions. "We've come a long way, but those ads remind us it is still possible for the nation to take a step backwards," he said.

The complete results of the Williams Identity Survey conducted by Zogby International, along with White's analysis, "Barack Obama and the Politics of Race," commentary on the divisive Tennessee campaign commercials and a streaming video interview conducted by Mark Williams are available on Williams' blog: www.drpsychobabble.com.