grace

… filling in the negative space with positively everything

Post-Election Racism: What Future Are We Building?

From the Houston Chronicle (http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/chronicle/6114464.html)

“Someone once said racism is like cancer: It’s never totally wiped out, it’s in remission.”

If so, America’s remission lasted until the morning of Nov. 5.

The day after the vote hailed as a sign of a nation changed, black high school student Barbara Tyler of Marietta, Ga., said she heard hateful Obama comments from white students, and that teachers cut off discussion about Obama’s victory.

Tyler spoke at a press conference by the Georgia chapter of the NAACP calling for a town hall meeting to address complaints from across the state about hostility and resentment. Another student, from a Covington middle school, said he was suspended for wearing an Obama shirt to school Nov. 5 after the principal told students not to wear political paraphernalia.

The student’s mother, Eshe Riviears, said the principal told her: “Whether you like it or not, we’re in the South, and there are a lot of people who are not happy with this decision.”

Other incidents include:

—Four North Carolina State University students admitted writing anti-Obama comments in a tunnel designated for free speech expression, including one that said: “Let’s shoot that (N-word) in the head.” Obama has received more threats than any other president-elect, authorities say.

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One Nation …

Now that he’s made history, can Obama deliver on his promise of bringing our country together? Or, the real question: will the partisan hacks around the country let him?

After his acceptance speech Tuesday night, I was inspired by his hope that we can move beyond being a collection of blue states and red states and, instead, stand together as one United States of America. After weeks of hearing about “pro-American” parts of the country (which implies there are “anti-American” parts), and being hammered by divisive “us v. them” rhetoric, I feel that it will be a long struggle to heal those wounds.

McCain’s campaign staff did such a good job of painting Obama as anti-American, socialist, and a terrorist sympathizer that when he gave his concession speech, the crowd booed. To McCain’s credit, he tried to quiet them by saying Obama had been duly elected President, and, as such, would be his President. The speed at which he made this 180-turnaround from smearing Obama to praising him was incredible to watch.

But then I read the next day about Buck Burdette being kicked off the UT football team for posting the following on Facebook: “all the hunters gather up, we have a n***er in the White House.” (http://tinyurl.com/5fdpoh) And my parents still think he’s Muslim. (He’s always professed his Christian faith: http://www.snopes.com/politics/obama/muslim.asp.) And possibly still unqualified to be President because he may not have been born in the U.S. (He was born in Hawaii: http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/washington/2008/06/obama-birth.html) 

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Obama Campaign Responds to Voter Misdirection

Obama campaign responds to reports of voter misdirection:

We have reports from all over the country that students, poor folks, and African American and Latino voters are getting emails and text messages saying that election day and polling has been extended to tomorrow. Others are getting messages saying that due to long lines, Republicans vote today and Democrats vote tomorrow.

PLEASE FORWARD MESSAGES TO ALL OF YOUR FRIENDS AND CONTACTS LETTING THEM KNOW THAT ELECTION DAY IS TODAY ONLY! Both Democrats and Republicans vote TODAY only.

As long as they are in line by the closing of polls, they will be allowed to vote.

PROBLEMS? CALL OUR VOTER PROTECTION NUMBER - 1-877-874-6226 -
(available on www.barackobama.com). There is a legal team set up to help.

(This is the national voter protection line. it may be easier to also go to www.voteforchange.com if you hear of any problems at the polls.)

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