It being circulated in the Black community that if Obama doesn't win the
presidency that they're will be riots worse than the L.A. riots.
"An anxious murmur is rising among black voters as the presidential race
tightens: What if Barack Obama loses?
Black talk-show hosts and black-themed Web sites are being flooded with
callers and bloggers reflecting a nervousness -- and anger -- over the
campaign. Bev Smith, a nationally syndicated radio talk-show host, devoted
her entire three-hour show Monday night to the question: "If Obama doesn't
win, what will you think?"
"My audience is upset," she said in an interview. "Some people said they
would be so angry it would be reminiscent of the [1960s] riots -- that is
how despondent they would be."
Warren Ballentine, another nationally syndicated talk-show host, said:
"Once
Sarah Palin was picked and African-Americans saw the Republicans ignited
again, they got worried. We are scared now."
The worries aren't universal. New York Gov. David Paterson, a Democrat,
acknowledged the concerns about race. "I am hearing those jitters," he
said.
But he said many Democratic candidates have lost the presidential race in
recent decades and "they were white candidates. African-Americans need to
remember that."
Black nervousness could help Sen. Obama, the first African-American to
head
a major-party ticket, by boosting black turnout in November. One caller to
Ms. Smith's show Monday said she was so worried that she planned to go to
her church to begin working on a voter-registration drive.
If Sen. Obama loses, "African-Americans could be disappointed to the point
of not engaging in the process anymore," or consider forming a third
political party, said Richard McIntire, communications director for the
National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. "
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