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The Democratic Racial Pot Continues To Boil

In a post discussing, among other things, the endorsement of Hillary by Rev. Calvin Butts of Harlem?s Abyssinian Baptist Church (here), I wrote that ?if either Obama or Hillary is elected the ?change? will be adding charges of ?disrespect,? but why wait till the last minute? Today the Los Angeles Times reports that ?Charles Perry, a trustee of Abyssinian Baptist Church, which Hillary Clinton visited Sunday, said he found the ?fairy tale? reference disrespectful.?

In an earlier post (here), I discussed evidence that Hillary?s campaign was increasingly relying on appealing to Hispanic voters and their reluctance to support black candidates. According to evidence cited in the Los Angeles Times article linked above, that strategy may be working, and continuing.

On Saturday, racial dynamics had been at work in the Nevada caucuses. Clinton won that contest, powered by white and Latino votes. But in an illustration of the racial divide, runner-up Obama picked up 83% of the black vote.

nd in another possible sign of how race is shaping the campaign, the former first lady on Monday seemed to be downgrading her role in South Carolina's primary, the next contest on the Democratic calendar and one in which black voters make up about half of the electorate.

She came to the state and left with no plans to return before Thursday. Instead of trying to boost her odds in South Carolina, Clinton will use the next few days to campaign in other states, including California, New Mexico and Arizona -- all of which vote Feb. 5 and have large Latino populations

And in this post, I discussed style writer Robin Givhan?s article in the Washington Post which described, as I put it there, ?the difficulty, perhaps impossibility, of crossing the linguistic minefield of race and gender without getting blown up.? With that concern in mind, and quoting again from the Los Angeles Times article linked above, I wonder how long it will be before someone charges that Hillary stepped in it, or stepped on one of those mines, with this ?praise? of Obama at a recent gathering in South Carolina:

?We have come so far together; you can see that on this stage,? Clinton said. ?Barack Obama is an extraordinary young African American with so much to contribute.?

Is she ?really? saying that he?s a good and promising boy?

Full post as published by Discriminations on January 22, 2008 (boomark / email).