African-Americans on Barack Obama | WBUR and NPR

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Monday, February 12, 2007 at 10:00 AM EST

African-Americans on Barack Obama

By Tom Ashbrook

Senator Barak Obama reached for history on Saturday, standing in Springfield, Illinois, quoting Abraham Lincoln’s “house divided” speech as he formally announced his candidacy for the US presidency. The tableau was super-deliberate: The home turf of the Great Emancipator of Civil War and slavery days as launch pad for the highest-flying African-American White House candidacy yet. It was a big day, and not the last.

But here’s a point of interest: in the latest polls, Hillary Clinton leads Obama 60 to 20 percent among black voters.

This hour On Point: We check in with African-American voters on how they see Obama.

Guests:

Steven Barnes, NY Times bestselling author and founder of www.lifewrite.com

Debra Dickerson, Author of “The End of Blackness: Returning the Souls of Black Folk to Their Rightful Owners” and “An American Story”

Cliff Kelley, host of “The Cliff Kelley Show” on WVON in Chicago

Jeanne Meadows, Associate Professor of Political Science at Spelman College

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