I just want to address this out loud.
I have had a couple conversations with people about the recent election that went something like this.
me: “well how do you think the election went.”
other: “i am not too excited about it. I think that people just voted based on race.”
me: (in my head or out loud) “of course they did…so did I”
Why are we so arrogant to think that race is no longer an issue in this country. Perhaps its time the “minority” had someone in office who could actually understand the racism that still exists and how discrimination is still a fundamental part of the “American” system. My “issue” if i had to have one is AIDS. We may not think it but it is a race issue. HIV in America is on the rise among young black men. And AIDS is a socio economic issue. And AIDS is a race issue. And AIDS is a inequality issue. And AIDS is a political issue. So yes I might just have voted on race alone. Perhaps more people should have. And I have HOPE in all the ways that Obama made cliche, because they are true. I still don’t place my hope in the government. But I do place it in a culture that maybe one day will wake up and say, “what the fuck are we doing? Love looks completely different than this.” And this I believe was one of those baby steps towards being awake to a world the Creator made to be good.
It’s funny, I get the feeling that this election may mark the first time (or among the first times?) that people voted on a principle rather than on issues. I don’t know if you saw my somewhat related blog, but even I would say that I voted on what I felt was his capacity to unite the people and rebuild a terribly tarnished (and therefore self-destructive) image of the United States instead of his stance on particular issues. Dangerous? Perhaps, but I don’t see any better alternative for the moment.
That said, there are those who DID vote issues only(?). If you want a good (and terribly sad) laugh, check out this article that my staunchly conservative mother sent me: http://www.remnantnewspaper.com/Archives/archive-2008-obama_and_the_laughable_beast.htm
I agree 100%. It sucks that anyone blindly attacks anyone for any reason. I can only say that this regime will have a lot less blood on its hands after 8 years than the previous one. Lets pray it is so.