Surging Obama Campaign Suggests U.S. Racism on the Wane
Prejudice Lingers, but There's Evidence It's Becoming a Thing of the Past
"I hear this [racial] stuff every day -- it's real," she says. "I think a lot of whites are afraid of what's going to happen if Obama gets elected. Everybody's real confused right now."
Whittle does not think the country is ready for an African-American president. But with the polls continuing to give Obama a solid lead, others disagree strongly. And they're worried about what could happen if Obama doesn't win on Nov. 4.
"I think there'll be chaos," says Jimmy Gray, a fruit vendor and pastor in Georgia who is black. "There are too many people ready for a new country and a new vision, and you'd see the 50 percent of people who support Obama rebelling against any other government you put in there."
For many veterans of the civil rights movement, like former Mississippi Gov. William Winter, much more is at stake than an election.
"The election of Barack Obama as president of the United States would be the greatest thing for racial reconciliation and racial understanding that we could have happen in this country," says Winter. "And I think it would mean so much to us as a leader in the world as well as to be able to point to him as president of the United States."
Amanda Paulson in Chicago and Patrik Jonsson in Forest Park, Ga., contributed to this report.
Do you have more information about this topic? If so, please click here to contact the editors of ABC News.
