The New Racism

This whole fervor over Obama has made me think more about racism the last few days. People are acting like the old guy who God allowed to survive until Jesus was born. I know it's notable that Obama is the first black president, but you'd think he's the Great Black Hope, that we've been living in KKK times till now. Is it so hard to believe that everyone, even Caucasians, would find him impressive? He's an eloquent speaker, classy as anything, and one of the smartest people there is.

The way black people are reacting, it's like they didn't expect the rest of us to be able to set aside prejudices and choose someone based on his real worth. When Michelle Obama said early on in her husband's campaign that for the first time she was proud of her country, I know exactly what she meant. She was surprised by how everyone voted for her husband. She had become used to the notion of a racist people who would never vote for a black candidate no matter how qualified he was. When he started to lead in the primaries, she thought, wow, people are really getting it, they are seeing below the surface. And she said, "For the first time, I am proud of my country."

I thought it was impressive myself that a man with a Muslim family background with the middle name Hussein who also happened to be part black had a chance of being president. I remember thinking at the time, we've come a long way. Here in Southern California it's no big deal because diversity is the norm here. But people from Kansas, Alabama, Nebraska all voted for Obama. It means the majority of Americans are not racists.

What's more interesting is the black community's reaction. They've come to expect the worst from us. They think, oh she's not black so she's ignorant or she's racist. Granted, they've had to deal with a lot of persecution but I would hope they've learned just by being the victims not to victimize someone else in the same way. There's nothing worse than a bully victim who becomes a bully.

Now everyone's preparing for an assassination attempt on Obama. They're doubling the protection and planning for the inauguration. Once again, they're expecting some Caucasian person to be so racist that he would sacrifice his family, life, everything. Even the Caucasian officials are expecting this. They should just keep him in a bullet-proof box like the Pope.

It's great that Obama will be president. Now can everyone please stop the weeping and get on with life?

By the way, I'll start using the official designations of African-American when they reduce it down to a 3-syllable word (ie. Asian or Latino or Jewish).