This page features ads run by the presidential and congressional candidates during the 2008 election cycle that we believe make some form of appeal to race. Do you have something to add? Do you disagree? Email us at RaceProject@raceproject.org.
Short in duration, but not exactly subtle, the N.Y. Times clip touting Obama's accomplishment as the "First Black..." appeals to race, while simultaneously appealing to unity in the remainder of the ad. Like so many ads from Black candidates seeking white votes and trying to inoculate themselves from existing stereotyes, the lingering frame in this ad makes the simple statement: "I'm not like many of the black people you think of. I've done something many of you thought a black person could not do." It also speaks to the question of electability: "Black president? Yeah, no one ever thought there would be a Black law review editor at Harvard either."[As of January 25, 2008, this ad is running in delegate-rich states such as California and New York].
