When my brother returned from school, a respected all boys private school in the area, he said, "Sarah, I wish you could have been in school today. There were riots all day. The Democrats said we need a new, liberal, black president and the Republicans said we will see an apocalypse if a Democrat runs this country." Not very shocked at the behavior of high school boys, I asked "How old were these kids Joe?" He responded, "They were mostly sophomores to seniors who split up by race, and my chemistry teacher who told me Obama is friends with Ahmadinejad and believes in what he said at your school." At first I was slightly jarred by the story, but I brushed it aside in hopes that this was only the result of hormonal, ignorant high school boys. Unfortunately, this was not the case.
A few hours later, I visited my aunt who seemed stressed about the elections. She told me that a woman had recently come into her shop and told her it was absolutely disgusting what was going to become of this country. She declared that we would suffer the wrath of "socialism," "terrorism," and the invasion of "illegal aliens." Ironically, she had just boasted about a manicure at a local salon by several "undocumented workers," but that is besides the point. If that wasn't enough, my youngest cousin, only seven years old, came home asking my aunt "McCain is the guy that will help us right? Obama will steal our money?"
Now, I'm aware that this might sound like somewhat of a political soap opera, but it is not the characters or the words that jar me the most, it is the overall ignorance that so many people hold at the break of a historic moment. Last night, I sat in tears as I saw New York city in celebration and I sat my living room looking at the empty streets suburban streets, with a silence broken only by the music from my neighbor's Benz.
After such an experience back home, where my "heart is [supposed] to be," I heard an announcer on television speak about his first interaction with Obama at Harvard School of Law. He stated, " I know this may sound cliche, but when you first meet Obama, you realize he is just a transformative person." I wonder, is Obama transformative enough to mend this battlefield of a bipartisan system? Do you feel that harmonizing American mindset is as important as salvaging our economy? I bring this question to the class, because I cannot explain how grateful I am to be back in an environment where people educate themselves on the issues of this nation and retain educated opinions rather than divided biases. I write this because I hope that in someway my short provocation can liberate a mind of a personal bias or surrender a barrier between the opposing political, racial, economic, or social side. Beyond just a response, I ask for a "United States of America" to be more than just a charged phrase in Obama's commencement speech. I ask that it is here and now, that perhaps we can make it a reality.
4 comments:
Sarah, that is quite an incredible and inspiring story. I wish I had an answer for your question, but it is very difficult to tell if Obama will be the solution to our problems. I do see the problems about the American society that you mentioned--I think they definitely do need to be addressed and are the roots of many of other issues that we see in this country today, but I am again unsure of where to begin. For myself, an international student, I found myself immersed in a culture that was much more politically active than my country- Canada. The most jarring thing for me is the language that I find here. People are extreme. Obama is not socialist or communist. Many don't realize how far to the right America naturally is. It's quite obvious that one of the reasons for such extreme language--like all the examples you provided---is just how things are portrayed in the media. Harmonizing the American mindset will be very difficult to do, but I do believe Obama is a start. Just from the states that he won that hadn't been Democratic in a long time--he has shown that he has the ability to change the status quo and affect the hard and stubborn views of many Americans. I think Americans need to be exposed more to other countries--the political structures and ideologies of other countries, and instead of trying to criticize them, try to understand them and perhaps even embrace some of them. Americans need to try to look at themselves from an outsider's point of view to better understand themselves. There is no reason for this 'two-party' system in the States. Things are not that black and white--not just democratic or republican.
I feel as though I lived in Douglasville, (aka Redneck-ville) GA for far too long to be even mildly surprised at any of those comments about Barack Obama. I've seen that irrational fear can fuel a large population of people, the growth of the Catholic Church can attest to that. It is unfortunate that so many people will take whatever someone says at face value if the person thinks along the same lines that they do, or believe in the same things he believe in. But it happens, on all party lines, to people too lazy to question what they hear. Honestly, if we had been attacked by Australians, they could have said Obama was Australian and not Arabic and still people would have believed it simply because his name is "foreign." In a country founded by immigrants, there still remains a sector entirely opposed to foreigners; I love irony such as that.
Regardless, I have a much stronger feeling of pride in this country after this election than I ever have in my 10 years here. I feel that this marks the beginning of a new era in American history, under one condition: success. If Obama fails, the backlash will be of epic proportions. I can not even imagine the future of this country if that was to happen. However, I can predict with 75% certainty that this country will fall many steps backwards on the mountain it has been climbing to get to this level.
I was very nervous about the election and I didn't want to get my hopes up about Obama. When it was declared he won I couldn't believe it. I was so shocked that he was actually able to do it and I waited about ten minutes before I started jumping up and down, just to make sure the tv reporter didn't change his mind about the outcome of the election. This is a gigantic step for America. Someone non-white and young was elected, and he is someone that the world can respect. I think that he has great potential and I'm excited for the years to come. I hope that he has permanently broken this barrier and that a woman, a hindi, a jew, a black, a whatever will be able to run for president without everyone saying, "there's no way he'll win, america is just too conservative." Obama will have a tremendous responsibility. If he does not do extremely well, even if he makes tiny mistakes or if things go wrong without his doing (like the economy gets worse), he will be criticized very harshly. "See I told you a black man wasn't fit for the job." If he messes up, who knows when the next minority president will be elected.
I hope that he will be able to show america that blacks, and all people, are equal in intelligence and capability and that he will help create a path for others to succeed. My grandfather fought for civil rights and equality in the courts (he was one of the lawyers who worked on Brown v. Board) and so I feel particularly proud knowing that he helped make this difference.
I went running through the streets screaming and dancing and singing with the rest of columbia and harlem and it was one of the most amazing things i've ever done. seeing everyone, people that don't know each other, people that come from all different backgrounds and educations and economic statuses, all celebrating together about one man, one barrier being crushed, our country being reclaimed, and our way to a better future. when else would you see so many people going nuts together in the middle of harlem at 1 am?
i'm ready for january. 63 Days, 11 Hours, 59 Minutes, 56 Seconds.
Sarah, the situation that you describe is upsetting and is another reminder of the issues within this country. Sadly, I don’t think you were the only one who encountered situations like these, and that they won’t be disappearing anytime soon. The Obama phenomena is something that has been talked about all around the world, and not always in a positive light. In my own country, the day before the election the front page of the newspaper said “El Negro en Camino a la Casa Blanca,” in other words, the black man is on his way to the white house.
I think that the issue with Obama is not only that he is black, but that the population is uninformed and not making an effort to learn more about him. The people could easily figure out what is fact and what is fiction, but this is another example of how apathetic the electorate is and how it affecting everyone. I think that this situation is also something of a nuance, and that if he has a successful presidency this current situation will fade. It will just come down to watching and witnessing how the next four year go, and how they will hopefully have a positive effect on the general population.
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