Nice column by Ed today on the Obama election. I was struck by the historic importance of the event at the same moment he was: When the whole family got up on stage. Every racial stereotype of the last 50 years ran through my head -- and not a single one made a lick of sense anymore.
At MSU Billings on Wednesday, I was a bit disappointed to see so few students who seemed to share my excitement about the historic significance of electing a black man as president. The few comments I heard were mostly in the "anybody but Obama" category.
I mentioned it to a colleague who had noted the same thing. "Maybe that's a good thing," I finally said.
Maybe it is. If it still seemed like a big deal to people their age to elect a black man president, then maybe it wouldn't have happened. There is the ultimate triumph of racial equality: They elected a black man president, and nobody noticed.
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I agree with you on Ed's column. But I wonder if the "anyone but obama" comments weren't basically racially motivated? I figure race is one reason that McCain won the state. And now we have the August silly season moved to November with all the gun sales.
It's not a big deal David, probably because Obama isn't a typical African American. He is not a George Washington Carver, or a Jackie Robinson, or Jim Brown, descended from slaves to achieve success. He is half-white, which he rejects, and the rest is Kenyan. He used his skin color to get whatever advantages he could, but in college called himself 'Barry'. What does that tell you? I am hoping for the best, that he is a fast learner, since he was elected on account of his skin color, not his qualifications. Was his election a signifigant, historical day? Yes. Was it a great day for America? That will remain to be seen, won't it? Do I support him? Yes.
I voted against Obama -- not because he's Black (which I really don't care about), but because of his policies and positions. I'd have been just as happy to vote against Hillary, Biden, or anybody else that espoused some of his proposals. A lot of us looked past the "change" mantra to ask "Change to what?" -- and didn't like the non-answers. As much as I didn't want Hillary for President, I wanted Obama even less; thus the "anybody but Obama".
It will be interesting to see what a pragmatic intellectual brings us. Can't be worse than the last right years.
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