Is Pennsylvania racist?

Ed Rendell says there are a lot of racists in PA that wouldn't vote for Obama. In an interview with the Post-Gazette he said this:

鈥淵ou鈥檝e got conservative whites here, and I think there are some whites who are probably not ready to vote for an African-American candidate,鈥?he said bluntly. Our eyes only met briefly, perhaps because the governor wanted to spare the only black guy in the room from feeling self-conscious for backing an obvious loser. 鈥淚 believe, looking at the returns in my election, that had Lynn Swann [2006 Republican gubernatorial candidate] been the identical candidate that he was 鈥搘ell-spoken [note: Mr. Rendell did not call the brother 鈥渁rticulate鈥漖, charismatic, good-looking 鈥?but white instead of black, instead of winning by 22 points, I would have won by 17 or so.鈥?br>
Agree?

look, there are racist people, and there non racist.Whether government is racist or not does not make the people racist. I am not,my family is not, and neither are my friends.

it depends were u live

Ed Rendell is a hole. People didn't vote for Lynn Swann because he had no political experience and Rendell has worked the system to know that he only has to worry about pleasing the Philly and Pittsburgh areas to win.

Plus, if you really look at the results you'd see that Lynn Swann had more votes in the rural, conservative counties than Rendell.

F#%k Rendell. he's an idiot. PA is no more racist than any other state. Alot of good people live here.

A saying about Pennsylvania.... "Philly in the East, Pittsburgh in the West, and Alabama in between". Philly is primarily black Democrat and the suburbs are primarily white Republican. Not sure about the rest of the state.

Rendell is an arrogant moron.

Explain why Swann got more votes in the rural, conservative, white areas of the state.

I get quite peeved when Democrats call the rural area of the state "Alabama." Rural PA is nothing like Alabama in my opinion. If anything, it is more libertarian in nature and prefers a small government that keeps out of the affairs of its citizens.

Lynn Swann was a joke. He had no experience and was basically running on his "football" celeb more than real issues. I am African American and I like Ed Rendell. Most people outside of Philadelphia find him arrogant, but I thought he did more for blacks in Philadelphia than any of our past African American mayors, especially Street. Rendell was very right, just like whites won't vote for a black candidate, blacks won't vote for a white one. It comes down to being an educated voter. I think it's wrong to vote along racial lines, but honestly people have done it for years.

Now back to your question, is PA racist? I don't think PA is anymore racist than other states. Although we do have more Klan activity here than some of your Southern states. There are some areas of upstate PA that you are hard pressed to find minorities.

No more than alot of other states (most others). Ed Rendell (Fast Eddie) is loose lipped, and speaks his mouth. Sadly, there's a hint of truth to what he said, and as governor he shouldn't have said it. But he's usually pretty good about admitting what & why he said it. And defending himself. I think people like him too because he's honest.


Little note: Even as governor he still is on just about EVERY Philadelphia Eagles post-game show. How many governors can say that??

I live in the Philadelphia suburb. There was a KKK march in my town several years ago. A few of their members live close by, I know many other openly racist people.
That doesn't mean to me that PA is racist. As with most states, PA has a very diverse population. It can't be characterized as a whole. I, for one, am a white conservative who voted for Lynn Swann. I also wouldn't be upset if Obama won this election. At least it wouldn't be Hillary.

Generalizations are very dangerous, wouldn't you say? I think he was speaking his mind. In the part of PA where I come from, there are plenty of racists, I am sure, yet plenty of open-minded people, too, whether liberal or conservative in political bent.

Perhaps the ultimate question will be what one does in the privacy of the voting booth. This year, it seems we will presented with the opportunity to make a choice between a white male and either a black or a woman. Whichever way that one goes, it's an historic moment. What people do in that moment will be HUGE!

When I heard the numbers just yesterday alone in the Potomac primaries, that Clinton received (as did Obama) more actual votes than McCain and Huckabee together, it just told me we are getting ready to make big history soon.

And it is looking like it just could turn on what happens in PA...

I live in the heart of Philly,and I can tell you that,yes,there are some people here who will not vote for Obama because he is black.But it isn't because of old,tired racial stereotypes,it's because of the example that has been seen first-hand.Whenever a black person gets into a position of power here,the neopotism,corruption and hand outs run RAMPANT.Important jobs go to friends,rather than qualified personnel,and services suffer.It happens EVERY TIME. I ,personally,don't look at things from a racial standpoint,I'm a believer in taking things on a case by case basis,but when a life-long Philadelphian says that he won't 'vote black' because of what he or she has seen for themselves,you simply can't argue.

i don't think so. i'm from philly and i've had more problems outside of philly than inside. most people cleverly hide their racist beliefs. i don't think that's accurate. i used to like ed rendell but really making tose kinds of statements are wrong. race should'nt still be an issue,but sadly it is.

uhhh f*ck no. im not, my friends arent, my family isnt. we all lie in PA.. plus you'll find racist people everywhere in the world. *duh* i think there are more racists down south, you know?