>From where I live (inner city Baltimore) race baiting appears to be a dead
political strategy, especially among the Black voters. During the last
mayoral election in this predominantly Black (over 60%) city, the candidate
who appealed to race solidarity among Blacks received the least amount of
Black votes. Interestingly, the voters were even less persuaded by the
rhetoric of a radical left candidate who called for class unity among
working class Blacks and Whites. The progressive Democrat candidate (for
law and order, economic development and partnership with private business,
against privatization of public services) who happened to be white,
received more Black votes than the two Black candidates combined.
This demonstrates that most Black voters are politically savvy - do not fall for the crap dished out by the self-styled leaders and vote for what seems to be in their best economic interests - especially when they have to choose from among Demorcatic candidates. I suspect that party loyalty overrides that when the choice is between a Democrat and a Repug - but that is also true for all voters.
The point I'm trying to make is that radical rhetoric, be it that appeal to race, sex, nationhood, "values" or faith, manufactured by symbol manipulation industry, has little appeal to ordinary people, at least in this country. And that is very comforting, indeed. Just look at Yugoslavia to see what happenes when manufactured grievances are taken seriously by the population.
wojtek