I have touched on the role of racism in this election before but when it hits close to home, it roils me even more.
It is hard to find overt racism today because it is so déclassé but it is there none the less and very discernable if you give it some thought.
I have recently engaged in political discussions with a number of people and became convinced that the totally absurd reasons given why Obama should not be president (read: I am not voting for him) are there to mask their real reason: racism.
I can understand not voting for Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton; they are totally unfit for the presidential office and could not even run a dog pound, let alone a whole country. Voting for them would be absurd.
But here is Obama, raised white but with dark skin because his biological father was an African (Kenya) but did not play any role in his life. Obama has the energy and the brains to run this country but because his skin is darker than ours, he cannot be president?
It reminds me of Colin Powell and his recent interview. He defended Obama as a Christian and not a Muslim but he stopped and said what IF he was a Muslim, does that mean he cannot be president? This is America, since when do we have these standards (white & Christian) for the office of president. The Constitution explicitly says that NO religious test is necessary for any public office; the Constitution does not speak about skin color.
I guess I am frustrated because I just don’t understand their racism because to me it lacks logic or reason and must stem from a deep rooted emotion programmed by racist parents living in a racist society that generalized the negative traits of some blacks into a condemnation of all people with dark skin leaving no room for seeing people as individuals.
If you could see people as individuals you would learn that there are jackasses of every skin hue as well as angels and heroes.
I grew up in this generation, in a lily white, Polish Catholic neighborhood, white Catholic grade school and white Catholic high school except for one tall black basketball player that was recruited to help us win the state basketball championship. So why am I not a racist? Well how about that I had absolutely no reason(s) to be one, for starters.
I went into the U.S. Air Force when I was 18. I met not only people with different skin colors but non Catholics and even people that talked with a different accent – the whole experience just blew my eyes wide open – look, there is a different world out there. I am also cognizant of the fact that many that grew up like me did not have the opportunity to leave their little isolated piece of the world and experience the rest of the world and therefore were stuck in that one dimension forever.
I will look into my life experiences even more down the road to see why I turned out the way I did but for right now; I will remain puzzled as to why some in my generation turned out the way they did.
I can only hope that more white people vote for Obama because he is the right man for the office than those that will not vote for him strictly because he has dark skin.
It is hard to find overt racism today because it is so déclassé but it is there none the less and very discernable if you give it some thought.
I have recently engaged in political discussions with a number of people and became convinced that the totally absurd reasons given why Obama should not be president (read: I am not voting for him) are there to mask their real reason: racism.
I can understand not voting for Jesse Jackson or Al Sharpton; they are totally unfit for the presidential office and could not even run a dog pound, let alone a whole country. Voting for them would be absurd.
But here is Obama, raised white but with dark skin because his biological father was an African (Kenya) but did not play any role in his life. Obama has the energy and the brains to run this country but because his skin is darker than ours, he cannot be president?
It reminds me of Colin Powell and his recent interview. He defended Obama as a Christian and not a Muslim but he stopped and said what IF he was a Muslim, does that mean he cannot be president? This is America, since when do we have these standards (white & Christian) for the office of president. The Constitution explicitly says that NO religious test is necessary for any public office; the Constitution does not speak about skin color.
I guess I am frustrated because I just don’t understand their racism because to me it lacks logic or reason and must stem from a deep rooted emotion programmed by racist parents living in a racist society that generalized the negative traits of some blacks into a condemnation of all people with dark skin leaving no room for seeing people as individuals.
If you could see people as individuals you would learn that there are jackasses of every skin hue as well as angels and heroes.
I grew up in this generation, in a lily white, Polish Catholic neighborhood, white Catholic grade school and white Catholic high school except for one tall black basketball player that was recruited to help us win the state basketball championship. So why am I not a racist? Well how about that I had absolutely no reason(s) to be one, for starters.
I went into the U.S. Air Force when I was 18. I met not only people with different skin colors but non Catholics and even people that talked with a different accent – the whole experience just blew my eyes wide open – look, there is a different world out there. I am also cognizant of the fact that many that grew up like me did not have the opportunity to leave their little isolated piece of the world and experience the rest of the world and therefore were stuck in that one dimension forever.
I will look into my life experiences even more down the road to see why I turned out the way I did but for right now; I will remain puzzled as to why some in my generation turned out the way they did.
I can only hope that more white people vote for Obama because he is the right man for the office than those that will not vote for him strictly because he has dark skin.
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