"Is America ready to elect a black president? As the election moves forward, doubts fill my mind and tug at my heart because I wonder how much influence race will have on the election.

In the sanctuary of the voting booth, how much influence will your past cultural experiences with black people have on you? You’ll be out of range of bespectacled, politically correct thinkers; and so, open-mindedness be hanged.

On Friday, some National Public Radio interviews openly touched on these things that I’ve mostly heard only whispered before. In one interview, for example, a police officer said at first that he wouldn’t vote for Sen. Barack Obama because Obama is inexperienced. But later and as the conversation heated up, he said he remembers all the privileges that blacks were afforded in high school while he had gotten none.

And on a talk show recently, a woman caller said she was a Democrat but wouldn’t vote for Obama. Asked why, she simply said because he’s black.

There were more comments, but these are just some that took me by surprise because they were so bold and frank.

The folks at NPR used the phrase “cultural experiences” in the program. I say, cultural baggage."

Get the Story:
COLUMNIST DORREEN YELLOW BIRD: Race seems likely to play poisonous role (The Grand Forks Herald 9/13)
pwpwd

More Dorreen Yellow Bird:
Yellow Bird: UTTC powwow keeps getting bigger (9/10)
Yellow Bird: Interview with new president of UND (9/8)
Yellow Bird: North Dakota tribe at turning point with oil (9/3)
Yellow Bird: Committing to a lifetime of sobriety (9/1)
Yellow Bird: Veterans Memorial Wall an inspiration (8/27)
Yellow Bird: Cancer on Indian Country's doorstep (8/25)
Yellow Bird: Good friends and good chokecherries (8/20)
Yellow Bird: Olympics, a war without destruction (8/18)
Yellow Bird: Investing in college students (8/11)
Yellow Bird: Exploring healthy, traditional foods (8/6)
Yellow Bird: Eliminate smoking at all tribal casinos (8/4)
Yellow Bird: On UNITY, Amtrak and North Dakota (7/30)
Yellow Bird: Sundance offers food for the soul (7/23)
Yellow Bird: Watching the sky for hints of danger (7/14)
Yellow Bird: Humbled by Turtle Mountain tornadoes (7/10)
Yellow Bird: Sometimes the media gets carried away (7/7)
Yellow Bird: Smudging room at North Dakota hospital (7/2)
Yellow Bird: Adventures that stir the spirit (6/18)
Yellow Bird: Exhibit focuses on Arikara Scouts (6/16)
Yellow Bird: My heart belongs to the Great Plains (6/11)
Yellow Bird: White buffalo signals hope and peace (6/9)
Yellow Bird: Sen. Barack Obama for president (6/4)
Yellow Bird: There's good and bad in oil development (6/2)
Yellow Bird: Remembering all relatives a big chore (5/28)
Yellow Bird: Oil on the Fort Berthold Reservation (5/26)
Yellow Bird: Recycle and live lightly on the Earth (5/12)
Yellow Bird: Leaps in America's multiracial society (5/7)
Yellow Bird: Diversity in the United States (5/5)
Yellow Bird: Pollution a threat to North Dakota (4/30)
Yellow Bird: Program graduates Indian nurses at UND (4/21)
Yellow Bird: Recovering from brain aneurysm surgery (4/17)
Yellow Bird: A fight for oil on the reservation (03/31)
Yellow Bird: Excitement in North Dakota's weather (3/26)
Yellow Bird: Thoughts on Sen. Obama and race (3/24)
Yellow Bird: Pray for rain in western North Dakota (3/19)
Yellow Bird: Grandchildren are the greatest gift (3/17)
Yellow Bird: UND powwow survives budget woes (3/10)
Yellow Bird: Stereotypes and Hillary Clinton (3/5)
Yellow Bird: Celebrating 125 years of UND history (3/3)
Yellow Bird: High hopes for Indian health bill (2/28)
Yellow Bird: More Plains foods that are good for you (2/25)
Yellow Bird: Chokecherries, the wonder fruit (2/20)
Yellow Bird: Sadness on a trip to Standing Rock (2/18)
Yellow Bird: It's time for a change in music (2/11)
Yellow Bird: 'Sioux' drives Indian students away (2/7)
Yellow Bird: Another cold January in North Dakota (1/30)
Yellow Bird: Tribal casinos should be alcohol free (1/28)
Yellow Bird: Race and gender in presidential race (1/23)
Yellow Bird: Barack Obama is my choice for 2008 (1/16)
Yellow Bird: Artman right on off-reservation gaming (1/9)
Yellow Bird: Barack Obama's big win in Iowa (1/7)