Obama Discusses Racial Inequities

Obama discusses racial inequities

By John McCormick and Rick Pearson | Tribune staff reporters
8:08 PM CST, November 25, 2007

DES MOINES, Iowa - Barack Obama held a rare discussion of racial inequities on the Democratic presidential campaign trail in heavily white Iowa on Sunday while rival Hillary Clinton declared herself to be "by far" the most electable Democrat in the race.

Obama, speaking to a racially mixed audience of about 500 people at a local high school, conceded some progress had been made on racial issues -- but not enough.

"On every measure, on income, on health care, on incarceration rates, on the criminal justice system, on housing, on life expectancy, on infant mortality, on almost every single indicator, there is still an enormous gap between black and white," the senator from Illinois said.

Obama said urban areas and minority communities often suffer first when problems spread across the nation. "There's an old saying that when America gets a cold, black America gets pneumonia," he said.

Iowa's first-in-the-nation status in the nomination process is often criticized because the state does not have the same level of diversity as the nation. It is 93 percent white, although the state capital where Obama spoke is 81 percent white.

more at: http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/nationworld/chi-112507-obama,0,5904014.story