Blacks in Indiana are beginning to come to the realization that neither Barack Obama, nor Hillary Clinton intend to court their vote, and they feel less than enthusiastic about it.

For weeks, Delores Smith, membership coordinator at the Madame C. J. Walker Theater in Indianapolis, has e-mailed and called Sen. Barack Obama’s representatives, hoping he’ll hold a campaign event at the 937-seat theater. It is, after all, named in honor of one of the nation’s first black millionaires. And its place in the heart of one of Indianapolis’ oldest black neighborhoods makes it a key stop for candidates seeking this city’s nearly quarter-million African-American voters — the largest concentration in Indiana. But so far, Smith says, “I haven’t heard anything.”

Cornell Burris, the 72-year-old president of the 1,000-member NAACP branch in Indianapolis, said he couldn’t bring himself to be present at Sen. Obama’s visit last month to Plainfield. “To be honest,” Burris said last week, carefully choosing his words, “I didn’t like the idea that it was out there in that particular sector of Marion County. It’s a predominately white neighborhood. I’d hoped to see him in the inner city of Indianapolis, not in the suburbs.”

This is the negative side of identity politics which is largely responsible for Barack Obama’s continued success this primary season. Having carried more than 3/4’s of the African American vote in most primaries thus far, Obama has stopped courting their vote, knowing full well he already carries that voting block in his pocket. Hillary understandably does not wish to waste her time courting the black vote as it is likely their is nothing she could say or do to ever convince them to not vote for the black man.

If you enjoyed this post, make sure you subscribe to my RSS feed!

Barack Obama, Election 2008, Racism