presumptuous to say the least, but I think you can forgive him that in light of the recent electoral landslide.
I want to talk about the racial card. I'll keep it short and simple (like my own mind). Anyone is adopting a racial position who believes that the race of a single politician will be significant. Mr. Obama is black. Mr. Obama is also a distinguished senator with a fine record of public positions on political issues. He is a former professor of constitutional law at the University of Chicago. If I were qualified to vote in the U.S., which I'm not, I'd be basing my vote on his outstanding political career and on my agreement with most of his political positions. If you vote for him on the basis of his race, you are a racist. Furthermore, those who adopt a racial position are putting undue pressure on Mr Obama, since if he fails or is perceived to fail in this very high profile position as President, many of us will judge people of his race accordingly. This is an unfair position to put anyone in.
This is more of the racial viewpoint. I can see Gestapo pigs pulling women off of trains and trying to figure whether they are one quarter Jewish, or three/eighths Jewish and therefore subject to the three doors at Auschwitz (left, murder. center, rape. right, enslavement). Just how long is the racist viewpoint going to be featured, especially here at so-called hip forums?
Running for president is volunteering to be put in an unfair position. The man is so much more than the color of his skin. Yet, when we celebrate the election of the first black president, we do not celebrate this one man, all he is, or all he isn't. We celebrate ourselves, for overcoming a ludicrous yet tenacious barrier to progress. By talking about racial relations, and what this election means in that context, we do not lessen Obama, and we do not emphasize race for the future. It is by acknowledging the moment that we say "never again".
hey...I will just be glad when we change enough so elections never say anything about a person's race even if they are 1/2~ black, yellow, or red. U know, when color is no big deal and we stop noticing what color someone is
and this is a big step in that direction, despite those who would rather not acknowledge it. Those who want this to be a fluke will accuse those who are celebrating of the very thing they stand against: racism. It's a cheap tactic that should not be repeated by those who mean well.
Woops, wrong thread. I think Obama's Presidential material, regardless of his race, and that's why I voted for him twice.
I believe it's a good thing to discuss the racial implications of this. This is something America has avoided dealing with significantly since the 1960s. Obama's election marks a turning point in American racism. It will now be MUCH more difficult (esp. if Obama does well) for racists to put down black people (and hopefully all minorities). The racist meme does well only when not confronted with the truth. When you have a black man/half black man/mutt, whatever running this country, it spits in the face of racists everywhere (and they're not just in America either). This shows the world that America has changed its attitude, and is willing to go even further in removing the barriers that divide us as a nation and a species. This dialogue about race is long overdue. Should've happened in the 70s & 80s but then again with the Republicans in power, backed by racist constituencies, there was never going to be real progress on race issues. Obama has brought the issue forward again, in order for America to transcend its bigoted past and unite like never before. Black people and minorities are no longer slaves and shouldn't be treated as anything less than equal.
I sincerely hope that Obama's election has a positive role model effect on black culture. Imagine, if you will, that the smart black kid in a black neighborhood might be celebrated for "acting obama" instead of beat up and discouraged for "acting white".
I'm glad Obama won (although my dad sure isnt!)and I hope that he will live up to these promises for change. There's something about Obama that reminds me of JFK, Both simalar in their ideology and their public Image. "Why not? It worked in Blazing Saddles!"
No pressure there, eh? That the precedent has been set for the racial barrier to the presidency to crumble is a huge step in the right direction, with luck it'll perpetuate throughout the US. We'll know we're there when the subject of race no longer becomes a topic of discussion. Indeed.
Every time I hear JFK's "bear any burden, pay any price" speech, I imagine myself swatting mosquitoes in a Vietnam foxhole in pouring rain, waiting for the NVA to come pouring out the darkness at me with fixed bayonets. (Yes, Americans fought and died in Vietnam during Kennedy's administration.) In the meantime JFK was secure in the White House, screwing Judith Exner, Marilyn Monroe, Mary Meyer, Ellen Kometsch and occasionally even Jacqueline. Do we really need another JFK?
I did move to Canada, and did escape the draft. Not before I was jailed in the U.S. (1971) before being acquitted, on technicalities, of refusing induction (1972). Others my age were actually in those foxholes.My name it is nothing, my age it is less. The country I come from is called the Midwest. I was taught and brought up the laws to abide. And that the country I live in has God on its side. -- Dylan Recommended reading: David Harris, "Goliath" (1970). A description of what America is, and what it must become. Written in Safford, Arizona and La Tuna, Texas federal prisons. David Harris, "I Shoulda Been Home Yesterday" (1976). Prison experience (1969-1971) of a founder of The Resistance. Forward by Joan Baez Harris. David Harris, "Our War: What We Did In Vietnam and What It Did To Us" (1996). A demand for a reckoning.
We don't need another JFK, and as far as I'm concerned Obama's similarities to JFK end at his stage presence as a public speaker. Beyond that, JFK was more of a liberal, while Obama's seeming more and more like a continuation of the Clinton administration upon whom we've foisted such high expectations of change we're bound for disappointment. I'll gladly take whatever change for the better we can get, however. 'Can't blame a guy for expatriating to Canada to escape the draft. A lot of folks expatriated after bush stole the last election. I thought about it myself, but then I figured if I leave the country I lose whatever leverage I have over influencing the policies of the most powerful country on earth... ...not that my vote entitles me to much leverage, given the limited choices... ...but if I were rich things might be different, right? The beauty of the good ol' USA is you get as much justice as you can afford... ...and if you can't afford it, you end up a statistic like the one in a hundred adults in prison...
Stick around. You might get the chance to chastise all the sheeple and feel satisfactory with yourself.
