Race and Politics
1 / 10
John F. Kennedy - In the 1960 election, John F. Kennedy openly played racial politics. In an effort to gain favor with Southern Whites, Kennedy spoke appeasing words to segregated White audiences. At the same time, though, when Martin Luther King, Jr., was jailed following a lunch counter sit-in, he called Coretta Scot King in a show of support and helps gets King’s four month jail sentence reduced.
2 / 10
Ronald Reagan - In 1980, Ronald Reagan launched his campaign for the Republican nomination in Philadelphia, Miss., at a fairground used as a meeting place for the KKK and other racist groups. This was also the part of the state where, in 1964, civil rights workers Andrew Goodman, Michael Schwerner and James Chaney were killed, but Reagan never mentioned the regions racist past.
3 / 10
George H.W. Bush - In George H.W. Bush’s 1988 run for the White House against Democrat Mike Dukakis, Bush’s campaign used Dukakis’ support of a furlough program to raise racial fears with many Whites. They ran campaign ads that suggested if Dukakis were elected, he would create a revolving door of hardened criminals, mostly Black and Hispanic, serving only short short jail terms and being released into White communities.
4 / 10
Rev. Jesse Jackson - In 1984, during his run for president, Rev. Jesse Jackson referred to Jews as "Hymies" and to New York City as "Hymietown." He made the slur in a conversation with Washington Post reporter Milton Coleman who later reported it. The comments triggered a firestorm of criticisms of Jackson and alienated him from many of his supporters and party members. He later aplogozied.
5 / 10
Bill Clinton - In 1992, while still campaigning, Clinton was invited to speak at Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow Coalition national convention. His speech was supposed to focus on urban political and economic issues but instead, in what was later perceived as an attempt to gain favor with Southern Whites, he bashed Black female rapper Sista Soulja for racially charged remarks she made after the White police officers involved in the Rodney King videotaped beating were acquitted.
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6 / 10
Rev. Jesse Jackson - The former President was roundly criticized for minimizing Illinois Senator Barack Obama’s primary win in South Carolina by saying "Jesse Jackson won South Carolina in '84 and '88. Jackson ran a good campaign. And Obama ran a good campaign here." Clinton never apologized for the remark.
7 / 10
Geraldine Ferraro - Geraldine Ferraro, a Hillary Clinton supporter and fundraiser says Barack Obama’s race gives him an advantage in his contest against Clinton. She said, "If Obama was a White man, he would not be in this position. And if he was a woman of any color, he would not be in this position. He happens to be very lucky to be who he is. And the country is caught up in the concept." She was later forced to resign her position with the Clinton campaign.
8 / 10
Mike Dukakis - In 1988 seeking to gain political favor with Southern Whites, Massachusetts Governor Mike Dukakis campaigned at the same predominantly White Mississippi fairground Ronald Reagan visited years earlier. But Dukakis’ visit came exactly 24 years after the bodies of three young civil rights workers were found on a Mississippi back road after being killed by a gang of Klansmen. Dukakis made no mention of the killings to the White crowd and only made passing reference to civil rights at all.
9 / 10
Rev. Jeremiah Wright - Controversial Remarks from sermons delivered by Senator Barack Obama’s former pastor helps ignite a national firestorm about race, politics and religion. It’s the toughest political test Obama has faced on the campaign trail to date. To address the controversy, Obama delivers what many have called the most significant speech on race since Martin Luther King Jr.’s “I Have a Dream” speech.