Well, here goes my first blog entry. I am hopeful that it won't be offensive as that's not my intention, I just have noticed an alarming trend over the last few weeks and I feel the need to start this blog off with a bang! I'll go ahead and lay the groundwork. I like to consider myself an Independent voter, with slight democratic leanings, but I live in the DEEP South. The very bottom of Georgia and for the most part as far to the right on the Conservative scale as you can get. But, alas, back to my problem. As I'm sure many of you have noticed, the Facebook and Myspace status messages have been full of political references, preferences, and pleadings to everyone, everywhere to vote, vote, vote. I was not one of those people at first, but eventually hopped on board and just encouraged my friends and anyone else out there to check the facts, be aware, and do some research before voting for your future President. Unfortunately, as I came across many of my friends, ex co-workers, classmates, etc. I began to notice an alarming trend. RACE was the driving force for their decision to vote for the candidate they chose. I tried to talk proposed policy, the future of the economy, the wars we are involved in, etc. and I'd say 4 out of 5 of the people I came across were not aware of where their chosen candidate stood on these issues. Now, I am NOT referring to one race of people or another, in fact I am referring to my black AND white friends. And quite frankly, it was mostly my black friends. Over and over again, I kept hearing,"I just want a black President, " or " Well, I'm sure he's going to make the right decisions and all, I'm just glad someone in office will finally represent me and my people." This was very disturbing to me and now that he's been elected, the comments have only gotten worse. "I can rest easy knowing that my President is BLACK." "Finally, folks got some sense and put a black man in charge." And this got my worry vein poking out on the side of my forehead. Is this why the majority of African Americans voted for Obama? I mean, I support President Elect Obama 100%, I voted for him too. But, I voted after I'd carefully considered all of the issues, watched all of the debates, read countless articles, and have numerous political discussions. I realize I am only representing a small group of people I know here as opposed to the population in America, but the more I hear, the more I wonder. And where was the voter turn out in 2004? I realize that many people wanted to see history made, but that's not your only duty. It's ALL of our duties as American citizens to vote for EVERY election, not just the one where we want to see a historical breakthrough. And now my face is getting red because I start to think if this many people had been so interested back in 2004, maybe we wouldn't have ended up with Bush as President and the country MIGHT not be in the state it's in today. I know, I know. Should've, could've, would've. But is anyone else seeing the same thing as me?
My new, probably unwelcome, beef here in the deep south..
By brigidb910 - Posted on November 7th, 2008
Not so much the "I like him because he's black" card as opposed to the "I don't want a n***** in office". It saddens me to think politics have come down to skin color and who can pick the most attractive VP.
Living is easy with eyes closed, misunderstanding all you see.
I'm black, i voted for Obama, and his being black is just a plus. And of course I'm ecstatic that the president elect is black, what black person wouldn't be? I think most blacks (and others) voted for Obama because he better fit their interests. Blacks pretty much always vote democrat, and it was no different with Obama. After 43 white presidents, a black president is a big deal.
I do think the same thing about the 2004 election, but better late(r) than never. I Agree with Lennon. Many of my friends wrote things about his being black, but it was mostly "OMG, the first black person has been elected president" or "if MLK could see this". All positive stuff. I heard about horrible stuff being posted on Facebook, but of course none of those people would ever befriend a Black person so I didn't have to end any friendships.
although you make think it is dumb to vote for a person based on skin pigmentation, you must consider that we have been doing this for over 200 years. We have been voting for presidents based on their skin color and gender. and that is why we have always had old white men in office.
this is not new knowledge.
at least there has been a break in the norm, and that in itself helps the american public eventually learn that race, color, and gender do not matter.