(Associated Press) — He avoids race, so the story goes. He can’t afford to alienate white voters, black people will vote for him again anyway, so he has little to gain by approaching such a volatile subject.

Yet on Wednesday, President Barack Obama is scheduled to make a foray into racial territory by speaking in New York at the Rev. Al Sharpton’s national convention — an early step on the tricky path that Obama must navigate in order to engage black voters who are crucial to his re-election.

On the one hand, there’s nothing unusual about a president fulfilling a campaign promise made to a staunch political ally whose radio show is broadcast in 40 cities each weekday. Nor is it odd for Obama, who has spoken to other civil rights groups, to connect with Sharpton, a frequent White House visitor whose fame flows from his aggressive brand of black advocacy.

Aside from the timing of Obama’s speech — two days after his re-election bid was made official — Wednesday’s events at the National Action Network gathering are heavily political. Obama’s top campaign aide, David Axelrod, is to address a special plenary, followed by the secretaries of education and housing, the attorney general and the EPA administrator.

Obama remains highly popular among blacks. In 2008, 95 percent of blacks who voted chose Obama. In a Gallup poll last week, 84 percent of blacks approved of Obama’s overall performance, about the same percentage as six months ago.