It’s time to grow up, America. We are about to elect an African-American president....and just like many of our other cultural heroes, someone who is not white will be at the top of the charts. The sporting world was the first to embrace such a sea change....we looked up to, at first grudgingly, and then admiringly, numerous stellar African Americans...from Jackie Robinson and Jim Brown, to Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor and Michael Jordan. Jordan in fact became an icon of commercial success. Indeed, everyone wanted to “be like Mike”...black or not. Tiger Woods has become so utterly synonymous with the “white” world of professional golf, that they can barely stage a tournament in his absence. And frankly, not much is made of his color, at least so it seems...mostly, he is regarded for his ability to simply kick ass on all the other golfers....My point, though, is not to minimize the struggles that all of these people of color have gone through. No, in fact, I am trying to look beyond race...what kind of a world it would be when skin color was regarded in the same vein as eye or hair color....that black people can root unabashedly for white people, and white people can cheer on their black brothers without interference from lunatic fringe racists.
I sat, at times in horror, this past summer, as people I otherwise admire spoke in fearful tones about the possibility of a an Obama presidency. Even before I heard it from the national media, there were fears of radical Muslim leanings discussed as if they were proven facts as opposed to lies and propaganda uttered by clown boy Rush Limbaugh. But I found it hard to argue with these folks....they fell into that category of “unpersuadable” I am sure we all have friends who’s views are simply not altered by facts or reality. I think in some circles, they are called “ditto heads”...and they think I am just as crazy as I think they are. It is my sincere hope that after a successful Obama presidency, they will be better able to accept those a bit different than themselves with a bit more open mindedness, and leave the vitriol for the media mouths that stir up hatred where there should be hope.
In the end, there is one thing I’d like to know: Why is Obama always viewed as “black”? I mean, isn’t he half white? And doesn’t that make him uniquely qualified to lead a country that is a little of this, a little of that. Just like the country he is about to lead, he is of mixed race...and perhaps in time we will all come to agree that instead of regarding him as black, or white, we can regard him as American....and maybe then, (and certainly not before) we will be as well.
I sat, at times in horror, this past summer, as people I otherwise admire spoke in fearful tones about the possibility of a an Obama presidency. Even before I heard it from the national media, there were fears of radical Muslim leanings discussed as if they were proven facts as opposed to lies and propaganda uttered by clown boy Rush Limbaugh. But I found it hard to argue with these folks....they fell into that category of “unpersuadable” I am sure we all have friends who’s views are simply not altered by facts or reality. I think in some circles, they are called “ditto heads”...and they think I am just as crazy as I think they are. It is my sincere hope that after a successful Obama presidency, they will be better able to accept those a bit different than themselves with a bit more open mindedness, and leave the vitriol for the media mouths that stir up hatred where there should be hope.
In the end, there is one thing I’d like to know: Why is Obama always viewed as “black”? I mean, isn’t he half white? And doesn’t that make him uniquely qualified to lead a country that is a little of this, a little of that. Just like the country he is about to lead, he is of mixed race...and perhaps in time we will all come to agree that instead of regarding him as black, or white, we can regard him as American....and maybe then, (and certainly not before) we will be as well.
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