Can Obama hold on to African American voters in 2012? (Wow! Lots of racism here!)

The Washington Post ^ | October 17, 2011 | Krissah Thompson

[2ndDivisionVet]

For several months, radio host Tom Joyner has pleaded with his 8 million listeners to get in line behind the first black president.

“Stick together, black people,” says Joyner, whose R&B morning show reaches one in four African American adults.

The Rev. Al Sharpton, an ally of President Obama who has a daily radio show and hosts a nightly cable television program, recently told the president’s black critics, “I’m not telling you to shut up. I’m telling you: Don’t make some of us have to speak up.”

Even as Obama and his campaign play down the suggestion that support among African Americans is flagging, a cadre of powerful allies is snapping back at critics in the black community and making explicit appeals for racial loyalty.

“Let’s not even deal with the facts right now. Let’s deal with just our blackness and pride — and loyalty,” Joyner wrote on his BlackAmericaWeb.com blog. “We have the chance to re-elect the first African-American president, and that’s what we ought to be doing. And I’m not afraid or ashamed to say that as black people, we should do it because he’s a black man.”

That message is pointed at racial unity much more than it was in 2008, when just the prospect of electing the nation’s first black president brought out record numbers of African American voters....

[goodnesswins]

YES>....Sharpton or Jackson said he wasn’t a REAL black and hadn’t been “down for the fight” or something like that....BEFORE he was annointed as the Dems candidate.

[justiceseeker93]

The big thing here is that there are rumblings of discontent in the black community when it comes to getting in line behind the Obama's re-election bid.

This is costing the Obama apparatus valuable resources needed to quell the rebellion within his most faithful constituency.

The prediction here is that he still gets 90% of the black vote if he runs for re-election (even vs. Herman Cain), but the black turnout will be smaller than in 2008.

People are starting to take notice of the unexpectedly small percentage of blacks participating in the Obama-endorsed Occupy Wall Street protest and its spin-offs around the country.

[Eleutheria5]

No, he’s an oreo cookie, because he doesn’t subscribe to the right shiboleths. White people will vote for him anyway, so you have to vote for the black man that white people have given up on, or you’re disloyal.

[Alamo-Girl]

Indeed. Thanks for the ping!