Southern view: Celebration and apprehension

Kari Huus Reporter • Profile • E-mail

NASHVILLE - For black residents of a city that was once a Confederate capital, a town that let go of racial segregation reluctantly and belatedly, seeing Sen. Barack Obama within hours of possibly winning the White House is a tremendous milestone. But even as the African-American community cheers what it considers progress towards a colorblind America, history has inculcated caution.

“I don't even know if I can put it into words how significant it is,” said Tammy Baker, a 41-year old professional and single mom. “… It's huge — and it's scary at the same time.”

It is huge, according to Baker and other African-Americans that msnbc.com spoke to in Nashville, not because Obama is black, but because he is a viable candidate whose skin color doesn’t appear to be an obstacle to his success. And it is scary, because they know all too well that virulent forms of bigotry linger. Underscoring their fears this week, Tennessee police arrested two white skinheads whom they said were plotting a killing spree of blacks — a plan the men said was to culminate in the assassination of Obama.

“There's still that racist side that instills a lot of fear into people's hearts — that at the same time he may be elected he also may be assassinated,” said Baker. “So it's kind of a double-edged sword — excitement mixed with fear.”

The promise and perhaps also the perils of the Obama candidacy have reinvigorated the political process in the African-American community in this city of about half a million people — which is about 65 percent white and 25 percent black. Early voting turnout has been robust in Nashville, an Obama-leaning city in a state that expected to tip to McCain.

Politics now a family affair
Baker already has voted — as she always does — but this time she is following the presidential race in great detail. And the divorced mother of two made sure that her 17- and 19 year-old daughters sat down with her to watch the debates. Baker and her friends maintain a lively debate of their own via phone, text messaging and e-mail. And she frequently visits the Web site Factcheck.org in an effort to determine how much the candidates are twisting the truth.

Blogging the election For three days surrounding the 2008 election, msnbc.com reporters blogged on the reactions of African-Americans and others in the Bronx, N.Y., Nashville, Tenn. and Seattle as NBC News correspondents reported from elsewhere. Click here to read the coverage and readers' response.

“I’m a political junkie this time,” said Baker, an account manager at a large health care company.

Baker said the historic nature of Obama’s candidacy is the main reason she has been riveted to the election process. She said she voted for him, but not because of his race. She said she initially favored Sen. Hillary Clinton among Democrats, but changed course when the Clinton campaign turned negative. Republican John McCain dropped out of consideration when he chose Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin as his running mate, she said.

“I’m migrating toward Obama because he seems to be a man of his word,” said Baker. “I'm hoping that … he’s actually going to do something about the economy, the working poor.”

Whether he wins or loses, it has been thrilling to get involved and see her daughters take a keen interest in politics for the first time, Baker said.

“It’s been the absolute best because we're discussing it,” she said. “I don't think I ever took the time out to discuss elections before.”

Florence Woods, 62, is effusive about Obama’s politics and what she considers the positive tenor of his campaign. But whatever the outcome, the retired teacher said she sees his candidacy as an important change in American politics. A foot soldier for Jesse Jackson’s campaigns in the 1980s, Woods has been electrified by seeing an African-American with appeal broad enough to win the Democratic nomination.

‘The ceiling has been shattered’
“The fact that Obama is the Democratic candidate means the ceiling has been shattered,” she says.

Woods has jumped back into politics this year with a personal get-out-the-vote drive. She carries voter registration forms around in her car, and pulls them out wherever she finds potential voters — at Burger King, her church or the gas station. A few weeks ago, she registered her 103-year-old grandmother to vote for the first time.

Many middle-class African-Americans in Nashville live in the northwest suburb of Bordeaux, where tidy brick homes line streets on gently rolling hills. Many working class and poor blacks live along Jefferson Street, a wide thoroughfare that cuts through north Nashville and is lined with hair salons, restaurants and check cashing outlets.

For Monica Hayworth, a hair stylist at Chic International salon on Jefferson Street, the Illinois senator’s candidacy was enough to get her back to the polling booth for the first time in a decade. Hayworth, 37, went on the first day of early voting with her 20-year-old son, who was voting for the first time.

Seeing Obama within reach of the White House, she says “gives African-Americans, especially young black men, a better outlook,” said Hayworth, who advertises a discounted haircut called the “Obama special” on a sign outside the salon. She said Obama’s ascent has inspired her son to consider a career as a police officer.

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