Hillary Clinton's Black Supporters In a Difficult Situation

This may come as a shock, but Hillary Clinton DOES have some black supporters left. Not many, but a few.

Black supporters of Senator Hillary Rodham Clinton have been thrown a major monkey wrench in the Presidential campaign. Many political leaders made their careers on the backs of the Clinton family and from day one, they never saw Obama becoming a serious candidate.

They have been proven oh so wrong, and they don't quite know what to do about it.

African-Americans represent the only major voting block that Senator Clinton has not been able to carry in at least one of the Democratic primaries. Obama now carries 84 percent of the black vote in Alabama, 87 percent in Georgia, 84 percent in Maryland and the list goes on and on.

People have joked that black people can't stick together. But this election is proving that the myth is not reality.

Being black and maintaining support for Hillary Clinton has not worked out for many prominent black leaders. Bob Johnson was attacked heavily for supporting Clinton. Tavis Smiley was virtually tarred and feathered by the black community for questioning Obama's commitment to blackness. It has gotten to the point that many prominent African-Americans in support of Clinton are simply keeping quiet about their loyalty.

"Obama has become almost like a trend in the black community," says Dr. Boyce Watkins. "Whether that is a good or bad thing, we won't know until he is elected. But seeing a real black man running for office has reminded many that Bill Clinton was not the first Black President. Hillary and Bill have been living off that untruth for years."

Last Friday, 25 prominent supporters of Hillary Clinton held a closed conference to discuss how they deal with the fact that people "pester, intimidate, question our blackness" for not supporting Obama.

The person putting the call together was Rep. John Lewis of Georgia. Lewis, once a strong supporter of the Clintons, has now begun to waver in his support. His constituency in Georgia favors Obama 5 to 1, a fact that he simply cannot ignore.

Trenton Mayor Doug Palmer is determined to remain a strong supporter of Clinton, stating that it was time, "to stand up and say why you're for Hillary Clinton in the face of adversity. We can't afford to be wishy-washy . . . Stand up. Fight. Advocate for your candidate. Don't capitulate. . . . Don't let nobody intimidate or threaten you. Just hold on."

This is not the first time this has happened. In 1984, many black supporters of Walter Mondale were feeling pressure during Jesse Jackson's run for The White House. The primary difference is that Jackson was not nearly as strong of a contender as Obama. The argument at the time was that they were being safe by supporting the likely winner. They cannot make the same argument with Obama.

Former San Fransisco Mayor Willy Brown put it in perspective.

"I think most white politicians do not understand that the race pride we all have trumps everything else."

Only time will tell how things turn out. But with Barack Obama being the front-runner in the race for the Democratic nomination, history is surely being made.