How Much Does Race Matter in Elections?

Read aloud this exchange between Barack Obama and CBS journalist Steve Kroft. The televised interview took place on February 9, 2007, the day before Obama formally announced his candidacy for president:

STEVE KROFT:
You think the country is ready for a Black president?

BARACK OBAMA:
Yes.

STEVE KROFT:
You don’t think it’s going to hold you back?

BARACK OBAMA:
No. You know, the — I think if I don’t win this race, it will be because of other factors. It’s going to be because I have not shown to the American people a vision for where the country needs to go that they can embrace.

In pairs, discuss:

Why do you think Steve Kroft asked about whether the U.S. was ready for a Black president?

Imagine yourself hearing this interview before the 2008 election took place. Would you have agreed with Barack Obama’s belief that he’d win or lose based on his vision, rather than because of his race? Why or why not? 

Take a class poll of the answers to the following questions by show of hands, in chat, or using an online poll function, and write the results in a place you can revisit later in the lesson:

How big a role do you imagine race and racism played in the 2008 campaign and election?

Not at all                      Some                  A major factor

Would you predict race would:

Harm Obama            Help Obama            Make no difference

Race Takes Center Stage Around Jeremiah Wright

Introduce the film clip by letting students know they are going to watch a scene from Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union in which conversations about race clearly took center stage during the campaign. During the 2008 Democratic primary, Hillary Clinton and Barack Obama were the frontrunners (students will learn more specifics about the primaries later in the lesson). At the time this clip takes place, Barack Obama was in the lead. During the campaign, true to his words in the opening exercise of this lesson, Obama had avoided talking specifically about race to keep the focus on his larger vision for America. Then, on February 22, 2008, Rolling Stone magazine published an article about President Obama’s longtime pastor and family friend, Reverend Jeremiah Wright, portraying Wright as radical and anti-American. Subsequently, Fox News and other news outlets broadcast video clips of particularly fiery moments from Wright’s sermons. 

Some of the clips, shot years before the elections and taken out of context from longer sermons, included statements like:

The government gives them the drugs, builds bigger prisons, passes a three-strike law, and then wants us to sing God Bless America? No, no, no, not God Bless America, God Damn America! That’s in the Bible, for killing innocent people. God Damn America.

We have supported state terrorism against Palestinians and Black South Africans, and now we are indignant! Because the stuff we have done overseas is now brought right back into our own front yards! We bombed Hiroshima, we bombed Nagasaki! And we nuked far more than the thousands in New York and the Pentagon and we never batted an eye.

Educator note: Briefly discuss these quotes from Jeremiah Wright with prompts like:

    What do you think Jeremiah Wright was referring to in this quote?

    What is your opinion on what he is saying?

    Why do you think these comments caused a public outcry about Obama?

The remarks caused enough controversy that the Obama campaign distanced itself from Wright. The uproar continued, and on March 18, 2008, Obama made a speech about race in America. 

Print and distribute Handout One, Lesson Four: Jeremiah Wright and the ‘Race Speech’ Film Clip Transcript and ask students to follow along as they watch the clip, underlining words and ideas that seem important. 

Film Clips: Jeremiah Wright and the “Race Speech”  

These clips include excerpts of the speech that Barack Obama made in response to the controversy about Reverend Wright, as well as commentary from his critics and supporters about how the speech came about and how it was received.

As a class, discuss:

Why do you think Obama had avoided talking about race prior to this speech?

What stood out to you about how Obama describes the role of race in America?

Do his views align with your own? In what way?

Does anything in this speech change your ideas about the effects of race on elections?

Explain that in this lesson, students are going to note the multiple perspectives about race in the campaign. They will use their notes on the diagram to formulate their own ideas about how race influenced the 2008 presidential campaign. 

Teacher Note: If you are teaching the lessons in a series, students will already have this Venn diagram handout.

Print and distribute Handout Two, Lesson Four: The More Perfect Union Venn Diagram

If helpful, use these specific prompts to get students started:

You circle: What have you learned about yourself and your views with regard to race in the 2008 election? 

Obama circle: What have you learned about Barack Obama’s views about the role of race in elections?

America circle: What have you learned about the role race and racism play in American culture?

Overlaps: Add any additional ideas where these learnings overlap.

While the controversy around Jeremiah Wright and the subsequent “More Perfect Union” speech were illustrative of some aspects of how race and racism functioned in the campaign, there were many other interesting aspects to consider. The following film clips and interview threads may be used in several ways:

Assign the clips threads in a jigsaw model and have students work together in groups to complete their Race in the Campaign Venn diagrams based on what they’ve learned.

Have students use the clips and segments to create a “timeline” of the different ways that race and racism were exploited during the campaign.

Teacher Note: The filmmakers conducted nearly forty interviews to produce Obama: In Pursuit of a More Perfect Union.The full interviews available at the Interview Archive on the Kunhardt Film Foundation website. A selection of these interviews, edited together here to create interview threads and aligned to the specific lesson topic, are available for your students’ learning. 

Print and distribute Handout Three, Lesson Four: Clips and Threads Transcripts. As students watch the Interview Threads, have them follow along on the transcripts, and underline details that catch their attention, and jot down questions and insights that come to mind. 

Interview Thread: Election Strategy — The Primaries 

David Axelrod, Valerie Jarrett, and Reverend Al Sharpton speak about the primary against Hillary Clinton.

Film Clip: Race in the General Election (02:15:26:00 - 2:20:14:02) (4:48)

John McCain chooses Sarah Palin as his running mate and racist rhetoric emerges as a result. 

Interview Thread: Election Night

Broderick Johnson, Ken Mack, and Cornel West share their memories of election night, 2008.

The Role of Race and Racism in the 2008 Presidential Elections

Revisit the class polls from the opening exercise to see if the answers have changed:

How big a role do you think race and racism played in the 2008 campaign and election?

Not at all                 Some            A major factor

Do you think that race:

Harmed Obama    Helped Obama               Made no difference

As a large group, briefly discuss students’ answers to these questions, focusing on students who changed their votes as a result of what they saw or heard in the film.

Students use their notes and Venn diagrams to prepare a persuasive statement about their opinions on the following questions. Encourage them to acknowledge multiple perspectives in their statements.

Given the complexities of race in America, what role do you think race and racism played in the 2008 elections?

What does your study of this election teach you about race in America?

What needs to change in order to work toward a more perfect union?