Ignorance is not bliss!

The other day while i was in school, i heard a fellow student blurt out an inappropriate statement about my favorite presidential candidate, Barack Obama. The student proceeded to ask another one of our peers, "why would you want to vote for a man who would blow up our white house." He was referring to Obama's rumored muslim faith and his muslim sounding last name. I'm a teacher's aid in his period, so i knew that this boy was one of limited intelligence, but to say something so ignorant? God help us all. I responded harshly no doubt, "we don't say things like that here, okay," and he apologized after seeing the look on my face. I left the conversation alone on that note, but it had me thinking all day. How could people with the privelage of being educated, be so dim-witted? And what if Obama was muslim? Would Americans, the people of the land of the free which was founded as a religious safehaven, chastise an average man trying to fulfil his dream as president? Why would he be equated with the actions of the few muslim extremists which made a terrible decision to bomb the WTC buildings? Why would the whole, world wide religion be blamed for these acts? I just want to know, is this what our generation is going to be depicted as? ignorant? uninlightened? immature? it's about time that my peers grow up. This election is ground breaking, and not for any negative reasons either. Please, just get educated, on our candidates' histories and the issues before you open your mouth and eject poisonous misconstructions into our already polluted atmosphere.