Republicans made Obama's skin darker in 2008 campaign ads

The images appealed to voters' racist biases.

Not Available Lead
Image via Complex Original
Not Available Lead

U.S. President Barack Obama’s 2008 campaign was filled with messages of “hope” and “change,” following both the economic and geopolitical turmoil during two George W. Bush terms. But the Illinois Senator’s path to becoming the first non-white president of the U.S. was tarnished with racism from his opponents—most notably questions of his religion and country of origin. A new study shows that 2008 campaign ads used that very tension to work against Obama and appeal to the racist biases of some voters.

According to the study published in the December volume of Public Opinion Quarterly, Obama’s skin complexion varied in campaign ads, portraying him as darker-skinned when the message was negative.

Darkening Obama’s skin, the study shows, activated stereotypes about blackness and “a subtle darkness manipulation is sufficient to activate the most negative stereotypes about blacks—even when the candidate is a famous counter-stereotypical exemplar.”

View this video on YouTube

youtube.com

Obama's apparent complexion change related directly to how closely the ad’s message adhered to negative stereotypes about blackness. For instance, ads linking Obama to crime included darker skin tones. Researchers expected as much and added that images of Obama smiling were “marginally lighter.” The difference between Obama’s skin tone when he was wearing formal attire (lighter) “approaches significance” when contrasted with other images.

An additional striking aspect of the study showed that even Arizona Sen. John McCain’s complexion lightened as Election Day approached.

Using manipulated images of Obama, researchers required subjects to complete words alongside the corresponding photo and skin tone. 

The 11 supplied words included one stereotypical answer and other non-stereotypical choices, such as "WEL____," which could be completed as "WELCOME" or "WELFARE." 

The experiment resulted in 33 percent of people choosing stereotypes when Obama was shown with lighter skin, while 46 percent selected stereotypes when his skin was darker.

Although Obama won the 2008 and 2012 elections, the authors say we shouldn't dismiss the effectiveness of the skin-darkening tactic.

"The fact that darker images were more likely to appear in ads that aired immediately before the election suggests that any racial priming effects were likely in play during the election," they said.

Latest in Life