I am already tired of hearing how progressive we are now that we have elected the first black president of the United States. While I recognize the obvious significance, I can’t help but point out the hints of racism that lurk within our self-congratulation. Really, we elect humans to office and I continue to be baffled that in 2008 there is anyone who would have any need to even notice that Barack Obama is black. People are people...the color of a person’s skin is as un-news-worthy as the color of his eyes, the color of his hair, or the size of his feet. Can you imagine us talking about how progressive we are to elect a person with green eyes to the presidency? The color of the eyes and the color of the skin are both just tiny little tweaks of the human DNA.
Humans share the same blood in their veins, pumped by the same hearts in their chests, controlled by the very same brain wiring in their heads...no matter the color of their skin! How can we hail ourselves for being progressive when we even notice the color of our new president’s skin. We should be congratulating ourselves for electing such a fine human and I long for the day when race isn’t even a consideration as we interact with each other. We will truly be progressive as a nation when we are unconcerned with the race of the people in our lives and we interact with humility and grace because we’re dealing with fellow humans.
Maserati Gran Turismo
12 years ago
4 comments:
The fact that we were raised in a racially inquisitive home by a father who truly sought out people of differing ethnic backgrounds, befriended them, and then MOVED THEM INTO OUR HOME to live with us…probably skews our views on the issue of race. Given the overt and covert xenophobia expressed by the Right in this election with the use of so called “code words” (Arab, terrorist, Hussein, “who is Barack Obama?”, “my Muslim faith”, anti-American, anti-patriotic, anti-Semitic, ACORN, community organizer, Kenyan father, etc. ad infinitum…)—racial prejudice is alive and well in the good ole US of A. Add to this the outpouring of support from other nations, including western European countries who still say it would be impossible to elect a black prime minister—and it is an important milestone. It was in my lifetime that LBJ signed the voting rights measure—and it was in my lifetime that dogs were released and fire hoses turned on blacks as they dared to exercise their rights. Coincidently, it’s no “coincidence” that there are huge blocks of “red” states in the southern regions of our country—they still fly the flag of the Confederacy! So I’m proud of our new President and First Family, and unfortunately it still must be seen as a progressive move…SS
I agree with you to an extent, but it also makes me think about an interview I saw with Julie Taymor on the PBS 6-part Broadway series they had a few years ago. She was talking about The Lion King and she was saying that the issue of race kept coming up and she made he point that, for a white person, who sees the show, race isn't an issue. However, for a black person who sees the show, it's all about race, because they're sitting in the audience watching a musical about a black king and it's not something they're used to seeing. I hadn't ever thought of it in that way, but I think it really applies to what happened this week. I agree that race shouldn't be an issue, but I can't imagine how it must feel for black men, woman and children thoughout the United States to have watched Tuesday night and felt the elation of that victory and to feel, maybe for the first time, that they can truly be anything they want to be.
I don't know if my logic makes any sense, but it's something I keep thinking about as I watch all the news reports and read all the articles. Of course, in terms of equality, we still have a long way to go, but I have to believe we'll get there.
Janelle:
I completely agree with you and am so very happy that this loud and clear message is being sent to our fellow humans who happen to be of color. However, I believe we are fooling ourselves to think that we are all enlightened now as a nation; we will be enlightened when we no longer need to pat ourselves on the back for electing a clearly qualified man to be our president...the color of his skin shouldn't be an issue at all.
We will have arrived as a nation when we do not take notice of skin color or sexual orientation. I hope to live to see the day.
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