Black churches choose sides in Clinton vs. Obama

By: Daniel Burke/Cecile S. Holmes/Religion News Service

Posted: 1/6/08

COLUMBIA, S.C. - If it's true that a house divided cannot stand, then black churches across South Carolina should be shaking. Take, for instance, this city's Bible Way Church of Atlas Road. The black megachurch's pastor, the Rev. Darrell Jackson Sr., is a paid consultant for Sen. Hillary Clinton's presidential campaign.

In the pews, longtime Bible Way parishioner Anton J. Gunn directs the statewide political operation of Clinton's main rival, Sen. Barack Obama. The congregation as a whole, some 10,000 strong, sits somewhere in the middle, according to both men.

Both candidates will need all the support they can muster from the black community to win South Carolina's crucial Jan. 26 presidential primary, a contest destined to play a significant role in determining the Democratic nominee. And in a state where half of all primary voters are African American - a large majority of whom attend worship services three times or more each month - the road to the White House runs straight through black churches.

It's not unusual to see Democrats hunting for votes in black houses of worship. Churches have long been the center of African-American communal and civic life, especially in the South.

"You hunt where the ducks are," said Scott H. Huffmon, a political scientist at Winthrop University in Rock Hill, S.C. "African Americans in South Carolina are highly religious, they're in church."

But this year's Democratic field, which pits a charismatic black man against a woman who bears a trusted family name, divides the loyalties of black churches and churchgoers - especially women - like no election in recent history. A September state poll found that 31 percent of black women favored Clinton, 31 percent Obama and 33 percent were undecided. December polls show Obama surging ahead among African Americans and Clinton clinging to an overall lead in South Carolina.

"Is it the woman's turn or is it the African American's turn?" asked Tracy Thompson, a 30-year-old criminal justice instructor, as she stood in Brookland Baptist Church in West Columbia.

Anecdotal evidence suggests the tug-of-war extends well beyond South Carolina's borders, said John C. Green, a senior fellow at the Pew Forum on Religion & Public Life. "The idea of having a black president is really attractive, and so is the idea of having a woman president, so a lot of African-American women are struggling with the question: Which way do I go?"

Of course, many blacks say this election is about more than race and gender; it also concerns health care, the war in Iraq, experience and "electability." But from the choir lofts of the largest sanctuaries to the small corners of a preacher's soul, the Clinton-or-Obama dilemma is vexing consciences throughout the Palmetto State.

"It's crazy," said Willie Lyles III, 23, executive director of Freedom Temple Ministries in Rock Hill. "I was talking to my grandmother the other day, and you can just feel the tension inside her."

"It's so difficult because we've got a woman, plus we have a black man" in the primary, said Thelma MacKinney, 74. "And it's a good thing because it's time for a change." Susie Smith, 65, said, "I like both of them. One should be president and the other vice president."

Gunn, the Obama operative, and Jackson, his pastor, reflect another fault line in the black community: a generational division.

Gunn, 34, said he's working for Obama because of the senator's ability to bring people together and turn the page on the country's stifling partisan past.

Jackson, 50, said he signed on with Clinton because of her experience as First Lady and nearly seven years in the U.S. Senate. Like many African Americans, Jackson also said former President Bill Clinton, who is adored by the black community, was a factor in his decision.

"That got her an audience with me, but she had to close the deal," he said. "When you get to know her, you will understand that she is as smart as he is."

The minister said he doesn't preach politics from the pulpit, but a pastoral seal of approval means a lot in the black community, said Todd Shaw, a professor of African-American studies and political science at the University of South Carolina.

"It says two things," Shaw said. "One, that I have a minister in the central social institution in the black community behind me. And it's a cue to the congregation: If your minister thinks enough to endorse me, maybe you should take a look in my direction."

Both Clinton and Obama have released lengthy lists of clergy endorsements, including out-of-state civil rights leaders and heads of national denominations. Moreover, both campaigns have trotted out megastars like Oprah Winfrey (for Obama) and Maya Angelou (for Clinton) to help make their case to black women.

Frances Mitchell, 65, the financial minister at St. Luke Baptist Church in Columbia, said the pastors "gave us some pointers on some of the things that Hillary was looking to do for the African-American community." Mitchell said she left the meeting sold on Clinton.

"What has been very attractive is the grass-roots movement," said Pastor Kay Colleton, founder of the Manna Life Center in Charleston. "The reaching out to people of every variation of life and holding us accountable to each other. That's what the Bible calls us to do."