Keywords: racial, race, discrimination, race relations, Barack Obama, John McCain, Black president, first Black president

Charles Crozier, 73, of Marietta, Ga., describes himself as a "quasi-independent" Democrat who has yet to decide if he'll vote for Sen. Barack Obama or Sen. John McCain.

He told The Associated Press that he likes McCain's platform on energy but he prefers Obama on economics.

 Crozier is white and says Obama's race does not factor in his decision. But he is aware that many white voters may harbor prejudices or believe lies about Obama--for example, that he is a Muslim--that will keep them from voting for the Democratic candidate.  

"I'm old enough to know a lie repeated often enough becomes the truth," Crozier told The Associated Press. "You can't change their minds."

Views about race in this election are the subject of a new poll conducted by The Associated Press and Yahoo. The study reveals that, although the nation has come a long way since race relations meant legal segregation, the country remains segregated in terms of Black and white opinions on race.

The poll shows that a substantial portion of white Americans still harbor negative feelings toward Blacks, that Blacks and whites disagree tremendously on how much racial prejudice exists and how much influence Blacks have in politics.

The poll reveals some positive aspects of racial relations, but also indicates the struggle Obama faces when trying to inspire white Americans to elect him.

More white Americans indicated that they think positively about Black Americans than they have in the past and Black Americans are also more positive in their descriptions of white Americans, a fact that may explain why more whites think Blacks deal with little discrimination.

When asked "How much discrimination against Blacks" exists, 10 percent of whites said "a lot" and 45 percent said "some." Among Blacks, 57 percent said "a lot."

When asked "How much of America's existing racial tension is created by Blacks," more than 33 percent of whites said "most" or "all" while just 9 percent said "not much." Only 3 percent of Blacks said "most" or "all" and half said "not much."

The poll revealed that 20 percent of whites admire Blacks "very much" or "extremely." But more Blacks admire whites--70 percent.

The numbers should concern Obama's campaign, even though he's enjoyed great support from white voters--most notably those in Iowa, whose support in the Democratic caucus showed he resonates among whites.

While 25 percent of white Democrats verbalized to at least two negative attributes about Blacks, 66 percent could see the difference between those attributes and Obama and said they would vote for him for president.

Obama's white support has been greater among younger voters, but the survey suggests that his support might be weaker than expected. The survey found no meaningful difference between age groups in whites' perceptions of Blacks, although older whites appeared more likely to discuss their views.

And since the Republican National Convention, at which Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin was introduced as McCain's vice-presidential running mate, polls consistently show Obama running about even with McCain, or leading by a notably smaller margin than the one Democrats enjoy over Republicans generally.

That fact suggests that many white voters like Crozier, who claim to be on the fence, may ultimately choose McCain over Obama.

Racial prejudice could cost Obama up to 6 percentage points this fall, the survey reports. And six percent is a huge margin considering how close recent presidential elections have been.

"The prior forms of racism, with hindsight, were relatively easy to deal with," Kenneth O'Reilly told The Associated Press.

O'Reilly has written books on racial politics and now teaches history at Milwaukee Area Technical College. He cited slavery, lynchings and legal and de facto segregation as prior forms of racism.

"If you ask 100 people what is the main color-line problem today, you get 100 answers," he said.

"There's still a lot of estrangement out there," between the races, said David Bositis, who writes about racial matters at the Washington-based Joint Center for Political and Economic Studies. "There's still an enormous amount of segregation."

Click here to read the full story in Yahoo! News.