Going back to the 1920s the American Communist Party was very heavily Jewish, as it was here, and made great efforts to recruit blacks both in the industrial north and the agricultural south.

Things began to change in th 60s when black nationalism began to emerge in the shape of the Black Panthers and the Nation of Islam. White students were expelled from the Student Non Violent Coordinating Committee and the anti semitism of Marcus Garvey’s United Negro Improvement Association began to permeate everything.

Religious and political leaders like Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton made openly anti semitic statements and Sharpton even started an anti Jewish riot in New York in which three people died.

Without any shadow of a doubt though it was the utterly insane statements of the Nation of Islam which alienated Jews from blacks for at least a generation. What reinforced this divorce was the fact that mainstream black America refused to condemn Farrakhan out of a misplaced sense of black solidarity.

It is clear that in spite of the fact that the pastor of his church was at least some kind of a black fundamentalist Obama has put that behind him. Certainly the attack by Phillips where she highlighted his links to the Weather People terrorists and other things have failed to dent his popularity.

Much of what Phillips writes is on target because very often those whom she attacks have made themselves easy targets. All black short lists, racial quotas, the Lee Jasper financial shennanicans have all been handed to her on a plate. This time though there is a very nasty taste to what she is saying. Strange to think she started off as a left winger on the Guardian.

If whites,Jews and Latinos turn out in large numbers for Obama in a weeks time I think we can say that, while race will remain an issue in America, that country will be moving into a post racial situation. The days of the Jesses and Als will be over, they will fight a reaguard action but their days are done.

That of course leaves our own racial warriors over here out on a limb. They are totally wedded to the model that is now being ditched. Interestingly New Nation has yesterday come out totally in support of Farrakhan demanding that the ban on his entry into this country be lifted just as the Home Office is reinforcing bans on extremists.

All in all the next few years will be interesting in terms of racial politics with the BNPlikely to be running Stoke and getting a couple of seats in the European Parliament, that is if we don’t stop them. Allvolunteers welcome. Keep an eye on http://www.hopenothate.org.uk

Matt – oh, you would not believe the level of identity politics here. I can give you details of how white males under the age of 24 voted for the last 5 elections, and with older black women etc etc. They poll the hell out of everything. Jews are just part of the mix.

… which I will get onto as soon as I have finished the mango and lime ice cream.

Katy, for you my sweet I’d end all diets.

Leon, you’re not dieting, are you? I don’t cook for dieters. Just saying.

Two and a half percent of the population, so why all the attention every four years? I think I can answer that.

Comments like this remind me how little some people understand electoral politics. The reason they’re made a big deal of is they are a group of voters that can be ID’d by a commonality and they exist in a key or key battleground states. It’s simply a campaign.

‘The lady is unhinged.’

I’ve long wished that to be the case. Its much much worse.

She knows exactly what she is about, and she is not alone.

But having read her stuff on Obama the last few weeks I have come to the conclusion that she has somewhere along the line suffered a mental catastrophe of some kind. The lady is unhinged.

Besides, I doubt she’s widely read in America.

A real blessing…

I’m not really getting the point here. People support Obama because they like him better than McCain.