Young Voters Respond To Obama’s ‘Color-Blind’ Approach, Duke Expert Says

Monday, January 28, 2008

A large majority of the young Democrats who cast ballots in the South Carolina primary voted for Barack Obama. That’s because Obama’s largely “color-blind” approach to racial issues may appeal to young voters who embrace multiculturalism and reject the politics of the old civil rights guard, says a Duke University political science professor who studies race, politics and gender.

In South Carolina, Obama won 67 percent of the vote among 18- to 29-year-olds, compared to 23 percent for Hillary Clinton.

“Obama’s message seems to resonate more with a particular generation of African Americans who are relieved by his stance on race,” says Kerry Haynie, an associate professor of political science. “He often leaves race out of it. Removing ‘the burden’ of race may be a relief for some black people. And it’s an idea that may be comforting to a new generation.”

Haynie is the co-director of Duke’s Center for the Study of Race, Ethnicity, and Gender in the Social Sciences. He is also the co-editor of “New Race Politics in America, Understanding Minority and Immigrant Politics,” scheduled to be published in April.

Haynie says Obama’s African American supporters in the 18- to 35-year-old age range had their political awakening in the “new black politics” era in which protests and challenging systemic inequalities have become less important. This generation seems ready to address social ills and look at civil rights public policy issues, such as affirmative action and welfare, differently than older voters, he says.

“They have attitudes that emphasize individual responsibility, a kind of ‘pull yourself up by the bootstraps’ attitude,” Haynie says. This generation seems more interested in solving problems than in conforming to an ideological position.

“[Hillary] Clinton attracts the old guard, black politicians who are deeply tied to the civil rights movement and the politics of protest,” Haynie says.

Those who support Obama, on the other hand, “talk about race, but around the edges, not in a direct way,” he says.