"How racist are we?" Western Pa. weighs in
"How racist are we?" Western Pa. weighs in
With Gov. Corbett taking money from schools in eastern Pa. to (maybe) get ethane-cracking jobs for his neighbors out in the west, it was already time to start talking up secession, right? (Note: Corbett aide C. Alan Walker inspired me to write that.) And now there's this.
When I first saw the first part of the headline -- "How Racist Are We?" -- I thought it was one of those infographics in The Onion...but actually it's the New York Times:
The state with the highest racially charged search rate in the country was West Virginia. Other areas with high percentages included western Pennsylvania, eastern Ohio, upstate New York and southern Mississippi.
Once I figured out which parts of the country had the highest racially charged search rates, I could test whether Mr. Obama underperformed in these areas. I predicted how many votes Mr. Obama should have received based on how many votes John Kerry received in 2004 plus the average gain achieved by other 2008 Democratic Congressional candidates. The results were striking: The higher the racially charged search rate in an area, the worse Mr. Obama did.
Consider two media markets, Denver and Wheeling (which is a market evenly split between Ohio and West Virginia). Mr. Kerry received roughly 50 percent of the votes in both markets. Based on the large gains for Democrats in 2008, Mr. Obama should have received about 57 percent of votes in both Denver and Wheeling. Denver and Wheeling, though, exhibit different racial attitudes. Denver had the fourth lowest racially charged search rate in the country. Mr. Obama won 57 percent of the vote there, just as predicted. Wheeling had the seventh highest racially charged search rate in the country. Mr. Obama won less than 48 percent of the Wheeling vote.
This is not shocking to anyone who's followed politics the last four years. What's a little surprising is now many articles there have been on what Obama can do to win over voters in Appalachia. The answer is clearly...nothing.
Nobody is surprised at what stupidity passes for academic research at Harvard these days.— Mr. Smith- looks like Will is setting the stage for Obams's loss in a few months. I guess anybody who doesn't vote for him is a racist. Please remember Obama carried the state despite his "bitter clinger" meme. If you will excuse me, I must get my hair shirt, and start whipping my self...— Tom813
- MSL must be proud.— General Turgidson
- You know Obama has a real chance of losing in November when the liberal media has to start playing the race card in June. They were planning on dropping it in October. Everything else they have thrown at Romney has failed. This is all they have left.— CD75
- How Racist are We? You mean not counting the fact that Obama carried over 95% of the black vote? Oh the other side, ok, I guess the blue-eyed devil strikes again. Dirty crackers.— phillyjeffsr
- I guess the eastern half of the state will also be racist after the results come in for the next election. Looking forward to our national nightmare to be over.— jimmymack
Comment removed.- phillyjeffsr, This article is a stretch at best as is your attempt to imply Black racism. If Obama took less than 48% of the vote in Wheeling and Kerry took "about 50%" I do not see a dramatic shift. The President was voted into office because he received millions of votes from many AMERICANS of all races. Why did you try to single out Black voters?— Getinline
- ///Why did you try to single out Black voters? ///
I think he was just trying to make a point (wrong, in my opinion) that it is only considered racist when whites vote AGAINST a black candidate, but not if blacks vote FOR a candidate based on skin color. - This comment has been deleted.— b,ill atkins
- Says the guy who apologizes for pedophile priests! — The Fundamentals of the Economy are Fine
- What was the increase in black turnout and Democratic vote for Obama vs. Kerry? Racism cuts both ways, Chief.— STS_PA
Will Bunch’s warped, delusional and sick mind:
A) Whites who don’t vote for Obama = Racist
B) John Street-“brothers running the city(to the ground)” = Long Overdue
C) King Samir Shabazz “kill crackers and their babies” = Misunderstood Community Organizer
D) 95% Blacks vote for Obama (truly against their self interest) = Informed Voters
— CobraKai- If Bunch's implication is that we're not racist in the superior region of Eastern Pennsylvania, he should travel around parts of the Lehigh Valley, Berks County, parts of the Scranton-WB area, and while we're at it, hang out in some of the bars of South Philly or Northeast Philly, or listen to the cocktail banter at the Merion Cricket Club and see what they say about non-white people...and if he's willing to say that nothing can cure the supposed racism of Appalachia, is he simply saying that some areas of the country will always be dominated by white racists who will never change? How is that any different from saying some neighborhoods in Philly will always be dominated by ethnic groups who will never learn personal responsibility?— J H
- @ General, yes that is exactly what I was implying. It's that whole holding people to the same standard that seems to evade the typical liberal talking point. My grandmother had a framed picture of President Kennedy in the living room my entire life. She wasn't political, in fact, she was probably the most uninformed person I ever met. She had that picture because Kennedy was Irish-Catholic, like her - and me. You don't think the same thing is happening today? Is it racist to point that out?— phillyjeffsr
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