I think an African-American candidate would be able to win in every US state right now.
That candidate of course has to be in the right party though (GOP in the South and heavily-GOP states and Democratic in the Dem. states), run a good campaign and raise a good amount of cash.
Tim Scott for example didn't have much of a problem in South Carolina, it's just that a Democratic Black cannot win there.
Literally this. A REPUBLICAN Black candidate can win in the Deep South, a Democratic can't. That's why I love it when Democrats complain about how badly Obama lost the South and the white vote because of racism. Heck, Kerry lost white voters by the same margin and no one was complaining. It has much more to do with the fact that Obama is a liberal, pro-choice, pro gay marriage, pro gun control Democrat.
A black Republican candidate could win in "the South," but I strongly disagree that one can win in the "deep South." It was only 15 years ago that
40.5% of Alabama voted to keep its ban on interracial marriage.
Here's an article last year about how excited AL Republicans were to get eleven black candidates in the primary, including those seeking "county commission" and "Public Service commission." That's a really really really far stretch from having a statewide candidate for something.
