Bigotry toward president-elect unacceptable

by Thomas Mooney, staff writer

 

The United States recently witnessed one of the greatest moments in our history as a nation.

Democrat nominee Senator Barack Obama defeated Republican nominee Senator John McCain on Nov. 4.

 I personally was really proud to be an American, since, as we all know, Obama is the first black president of the United States. What I am not so proud of is all the abhorrence toward Obama that followed. I am sure everyone has received or seen emails or text messages that have been racist in its purest form. Some of you probably passed these on to friends and family without even second-guessing your actions.

It really makes me embarrassed that no matter how far we have come as a nation, there are still people out there who still spread hate toward others. Our nation took a giant leap in the right direction. People listened and cared more about the issues at hand, rather than caring about the color of someone’s skin. Then after the first racist text message went out, we took a few steps back.

We really showed that no matter how much we say it isn’t a problem, racism is still a concern. We really are a two-faced nation. At times, we unite together and show the world how great it is to be an American, and then, we rear up our “Ugly American” side that is still very racist, sexist, and discriminatory towards the poor. 

I’m sure most of you passed these off as jokes and didn’t really think much of it. But these really aren’t jokes at all. They are discriminatory toward a particular group of people in our nation. Judging a person on stereotypes isn’t the proper way to evaluate someone’s character. I’m sure that everyone out there doesn’t want to be judged by the deeds of others who look, talk, and act like them.

It’s remarks such as “the last person who called for change was named Hitler” that make Americans look ignorant. Correct me if I’m wrong, but people such as George Washington, Abraham Lincoln, and Martin Luther King Jr., all wanted change as well. We all see that they didn’t try to take over the world and did a lot more good than bad. It would be comments such as this that give me less and less confidence and faith in the human race.

It really doesn’t matter if you voted for Obama or McCain, whether you are a Democrat or a Republican. It only matters if you spread this hate to others. If you don’t agree with Obama’s positions on important issues, that is fine. But discriminating against a man based on the color of his skin isn’t called for. All that matters is if you pass these kinds of racist remarks and comments to others.

Another kind of comment that I have heard from friends is the “Well, now that Obama is elected, I am moving to insert country here.” Most of the time, it’s France, Canada, England, and yes, even Mexico, that they insert as their destination country.

Without fail, they claim that Obama is going to turn our country into a Socialist nation with high taxes on the wealthy and universal health care, and that would be why they are moving. What they fail to realize is that France, Canada, and England already have higher taxes than those here and universal health care.

Long story short, they would be running towards, something that they fear here. This is just a great example of how unaware and misinformed the people of the United States are. It’s very similar to the Red Scare of the ‘40s and ‘50s.

I am positive that while you’ve been reading, you have either formed one of two opinions. One is that I am right, and people should stop being racist toward Obama. The other is that I am a hippy-loving liberal Socialist.

You probably think that Obama is going to lose the nation and take away what is so great about the United States, that I am 100 percent wrong. If that is the case, I don’t want to be right.