Today we asked, "Does the Obama campaign have a diversity problem?"
49% No31% Is this a joke?10% Yes
Most readers didn't see the lack of (racial) diversity as a problem in the Obama campaign operation and others just attacked the question ("Is this a joke?").One reader wanted more clarity about the background of the photo:
rob654: I think we would need to know more about that picture - is that a specific event at the HQ - or just a random photo taken at a random time - how many people work there (is this a small sub-group or is this most of the workers)?Also, this may or may not be an indication of an issue with the campaign not including minorities - rather what is the educational background of the people they are hiring? Perhaps this is more an indication of something deeper in our society?
Another reader speculated that blacks simply may not be able to afford to work in low-paying campaign jobs:
WeiwenNg: I think that part of the problem is that campaign jobs tend to be poorly reimbursed. There's both an income and wealth disparity by race. Those young White campaign staffers can potentially lean on their families. Folks from working class families will have fewer resources to do so.In addition, once the campaign gets dominated by White folks, then they'll tend to recruit from friends, who will also tend to be White.Not trying to make excuses. The author raises a very fair point. This problem also, in my experience, plagues Hill staff and think tanks (and I have personal experience in think tanks). It is true that you would be even more hard pressed to find diversity in a Republican campaign, but that doesn't mean that Democrats shouldn't need to take diversity seriously. Plus this photo is in Chicago.
Other readers repeated similar ideas:
rbottoms: I'm like me, most black folks are busy during the week working and don't have the luxury of hanging out in the HQ. check back on Saturday.
