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I live in a town of about 75,000; not small but still undergoing the transition to the 21 century. Some people in their 40s & 50s still use pejorative terms that I hadn't heard for years. My guess is that some of it is ignorance, some of it is fear of the unknown and some is the cultural environment.
I've been to Manistique and other small towns on Superior's S shore. People weren't rude or offensive but they were cautious toward me & I'm white. I can see how they might relate to a charismatic black man who wants to run their country. My suspicion is that they want to know about Mr. Obama's religion, other details of his personal life and what he is going to do for them rather than his views on dealing with a new aggressive Russia. The former is familiar territory, the latter may be poorly understood or deemed irrelevant.
Since day 1 small towns have been fed all the bad news about non-whites and very little about what they have accomplished. Integration has a long way to go.
Mr. Hoyle, you are right, Obama must connect with the little people! He must also convince the people of his socio-economic class and wealthy that he is not a threat to their status and way of life.
