African American

of both Barack Obama and Kamala Harris.

They spent substantial parts of their younger years outside the United States. During those younger years, when they were in the United States, they were in states that were highly multi-ethnic. They were able to get into really good schools for their higher education. And when they ran for office, they dealt with more successes than losses.

Does that sound like the experience of a person living in a formerly segregated part of the United States, that is still pretty segregated in practice, if not by law? Someone who's heard stories of the Jim Crow days from their grandparents, or even older stories about slavery such as what Alex Haley did?

In my conversations with African-Americans in my town (we all like to go to the Beer Den on Thirsty Thursdays!), I'm the guy who brings up politics, and most of what I hear is positive, about Joe Biden being a part of the successful Obama Administration. They know I moved from "up North" (New York State) and had been a Northwesterner (WA State) before that, so I think they feel comfortable speaking with me openly.

I have asked about Booker and Harris, and while they're glad to see both of them in the running, they don't seem to relate to either of them. With Booker, they know he's a vegan, and nearly everybody of all colors likes barbecue in SC, so it makes him hard to fathom. With Harris, I've gotten the feeling that she is perceived as a bit "bossy", and one fellow even opined that when it came time to find a husband, a black man wasn't good enough. He was laughed off by the others, but when I said, "Hey, you love who you love," I was met with, "So, you gonna talk about that white mayor from South Bend again?" to more laughter.

I backed off a bit at that point, and said, "Well, I can understand why people feel comfortable with Joe Biden" and we all went back to talking about beer and sports. Perhaps my experiences were not typical.