posted July 3, 2008
Now granted I don't run around with some of the most enlightened people in this city, but I do listen to what the common working folk have to say, and they are the backbone of America. Now that those cliches are out of the way I'll get to my point.
I have hear so many comments made about Barack Obama. Often times I will try to not show a reaction or a grimace, just pay attention and soak it in and then think about it later. There are many examples of racist comments that I am sure many of you have heard, but may or may not have found it hard to handle.
I just can't remember, even though I am 47 and I was around during the Civil Rights Movement ever thinking like that. I don't know why. I grew up in Lakeview, Ga., where there were no black families and I had no black classmates. I then went to McCallie School where there were three black students. I can honestly say, I never felt any anger, fear, problem or paranoia about any black person. So, my question is, where did this hatred amongst some people come from? Maybe I need to be enlightened. Feel free to do so.
In the meantime, I'll be campaigning for Obama.
Peace,
Parker Smith Parkersmith29@yahoo.com
* * *
Why is opposition to Barack Obama a race based decision as some claim it to be?
BO is half black. So? Tiger Woods is too, and Tiger is arguably the best golfer to come along in a very long time ... if not the greatest golfer in history.
Perhaps we should focus more on the qualifications, integrity, and character of the candidates and less on their race or gender.
Having come to adulthood through the 50s and 60s, some of us were there through the Civil Rights Movement, as well as the Equal Rights Movement. Some of us remember not only saying that we shouldn't trust anyone over 30, but never dreamed that we might even live to be a member of the geezer gang ... and now we are one, or are quickly approaching geezerhood. In doing so, and as we mature, we discover that we cannot live our lives regretting what's happened in the past, we must live our lives and make decisions based upon what is happening now, in the present moment.
Guilt for the sake of feeling guilty, especially about issues and situations we have no personal control over, is just exactly that ... guilt for guilt's sake.
How about if we just look at an individual's qualifications?
Dr. Thomas Sowell, economist extraordinaire, in his 5 June 2008 article, not the one that's floating around in our e-mail in-boxes, has done so. Dr. Walter E. Williams, another economist extraordinaire, has also done so in his 26 May 2008 article. Both men are black. Both men have serious reservations about the qualifications of BO.
Are Doctors Sowell and Williams racists? Hardly.
To vote for a candidate, any candidate, based solely upon their membership in a particular group, or demographic if we want to use a 50 cent word, is not a very wise thing to do. As a member of the better half of the United States Navy, I once voted for a presidential candidate primarily because he was a former sailor, a ship's captain. The result was double digit inflation, double digit unemployment, mortgage interest rates over 20%, we were told to turn our heat down and walk around wearing sweaters, we had fireside chats while some of our citizens were held hostage for over a year by the Iranians, and our military had been stripped down so far they couldn't do much to help ... and H. Ross Perot had to hire mercenaries to get his people out of that place. I'm still doing penance for that decision.
Growing up can be a real drag. It's even more of a drag that with BO and JM as the anointed ones, there is no presidential candidate with whom I'd be willing to stand back to back in a bar fight. That leaves only Kookie, Juster, and Dumas.
Ignorance can be bliss, we're sometimes told. It can also be the downfall of our nation, a nation many have fought and died for.
Royce E. Burrage, Jr.
Royce@OfficiallyChapped.org
| Dining Out | Business | Movies | Focus | About Us |
| Church | Living Well | Memories | Outdoors | Real Estate | Student Scene | Travel |