US elections 2012: tensions over race likely to suppress black vote

US elections 2012: tensions over race likely to suppress black vote January 19, 2012

It was billed as a unity celebration.

But there was not much evidence of that as Spartanburg’s African American residents streamed in to the city’s main auditorium as part of a week of “celebrating people of all cultures and ethnicity”.

“Only a few white folks will come out to something like this,” said Lisa Campbell, an African American student. “It’s racism. Racism is still prevalent here. It’s not real subtle.”

That’s why Campbell laughs at the question as to whether she’ll be voting in South Carolina’s Republican primary election on Saturday. So does another woman at the concert to mark Martin Luther King Day, Kathy Edwards.

“It’s all about this with the Republicans,” she says pinching her own black skin. “I’m 58 now. It’s better than it was but with the Republicans it’s all about race even if they don’t say it.”
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