Month: November 2008

Yay! The election’s over. That’s the good news, right? Well, maybe just from my perspective – I think it’s vitally important for everyone to at least make the effort to participate in the process, no matter who they vote for. But I guess I’m all chipper because – at the risk of making this all sound like a contest where you try to bet on the winning horse – for the most part, at almost all levels, I got my wishes. My guy’s headed to the White House. I have faith in him. I have faith that where he has rough edges and maybe not as much experience, his advisors, his instincts and his even-keeled temperament will be his best assets.

I didn’t agree with Barack Obama on everything, straight up-and-down-the-line, platform-wise. Maybe about 75% of it, really. Which is a hell of a lot more common ground than I had with Senators Clinton or McCain, or with anyone running on a third party ticket. (Keep in mind – I voted for John Hagelin in 2000. I liked the backbone of his policies enough for forgive/overlook the wacky-doodle stuff in the background about how he hoped to achieve peace through transcendental meditation. I have no qualms about going third party.) On the issues, I agreed with Obama 3/4 of the time, which is a better match than I had with either Gore or Kerry. I tend to lean left in some areas (but not all). I felt distinctly discouraged when, post-primaries, it seemed like so much of the inspirational message of primary season fell by the wayside in favor of party-dictated talking points that seemed, by comparison, diluted. I was incredibly irritated by the wildly unprecedented amount of innuendo that was put into circulation by folks who apparently felt like they had a lot to lose, accusing Obama of being everything from the Godless socialist baby-killing spearhead of a secret Muslim takeover of the government to the Antichrist. Whatever. For my money, he’s a more even-tempered, pragmatic and adaptable candidate than anyone else who was in the running.

But that’s all water under the bridge: the man will be President of the United States. And that’s an occasion that opens the door a bit for something I’ve been wanting to vent about.

I’ve been sick of politics for much of this year because, among other reasons, it’s generated more spam than all the Nigerian bank cons, penis enlargement drugs and other crap I’ve gotten in the three years prior to 2008. A lot of it was anti-Obama, accusing him of being the aforementioned Godless socialist baby-killing spearhead of a secret Muslim takeover of the government, but let’s dance the real waltz here: with me being in the redneck south, if you’ll forgive me being uncharacteristically blunt, a lot of it was recycled nigger jokes. Any racist joke you can think of where you’d ever seen the word “nigger” was regurgitated here with Obama’s name cut-and-pasted in. I even received some of this crap tonight after the Arkansas polls had closed – what the hell effect did the sender think this e-mail would have?).

Let me get down to why, exactly, this bugs the fuck outta me. I can go on and on about respecting the position even if you don’t respect the man (come on, if we’ve been according due respect to President Bush for the past eight years, I think this one’s a no-brainer). But ultimately, my concern isn’t about political correctness. I am raising a young boy who’s already walking, working on talking, and is eagerly drinking in everything he sees and hears and experiences and taking it on board. I intend to teach my son that people – all people – are to be valued and respected. It doesn’t matter who they are or what they look like. You treat people with decency unless they give you a damn good reason to treat them otherwise.

I see President-Elect Barack Obama giving his acceptance speech and outlining his hopes for the future, and I can’t help but marvel as how far we’ve come as a nation. I then think about the number of times that I’ve heard people around me, including close family members, talking out in the open about how they “don’t want a nigger in the White House,” and I can’t help but be reminded that we have so far, so very far, yet to go. And so much more to learn – about according basic respect to a fellow human being.

I realize that there are plenty of people who voted against Obama on grounds of policy rather than race. I respect that. And for those who, for whatever reason (oh, let’s cut to the chase: it’s upbringing, pure and simple), object to Mr. Obama on the grounds of his race, I don’t expect to change your mind. I don’t expect the world to hand me an obstacle-free path to raising my child – I know better than that. But show some common decency and respect in public. The world does enough to gradually strip away the carefree joys and innocence of childhood as our kids grow up; I’ll have to cushion those blows and teach my son to rationalize them as best I can. Just because you disagree with Obama politically does not qualify him for that insulting label (or any of its synonyms for that matter).

A black man is about to become the leader of the free world. And it’s not the end of the world. I’d appreciate it if some folks would stop going on and on like it is.

So far to go, so much more to learn. All of us.… Read more