I got a racially charged e-mail about President Obama from a friend whom I've known for years. Promptly, I asked her not to include me on her forward list in the future. She responded respectfully and took me off the list, and apologized for offending me.
I've got to say this situation really upset me. My opinion of Obama is not based on the color of his skin. It is purely on his policies, about which I take issue. If we are to have intelligent conversations about politics and issues in this country, we need to leave race aside. Also, personal attacks stifle one's credibility.
In California, racism isn't what it used to be. In the ’80s, my high school had only a few racially mixed couples. Today, there are many. Kids need to be raised colorblind. Evidence seems to show they are, for the most part. A few years ago, one of my dearest friends, who has an interracial marriage, said she'd never seen so many interracial married couples as she'd seen in Tracy.
As a country, we need to build on the foundation that "all men are created equal." Our leaders need to speak out against racism of any kind, and we as Americans need to be able to speak openly, including about the border and illegal immigrant issues, without being branded racists. It only stifles any real conversation, and we need real solutions today in America.
We are desperate for our leaders to be legitimate and honest so that these issues can be resolved in the best possible ways.
Thank you for recognizing that we should not let racism get in the way. Too often, people use the race card to shut down conversation. This letter seems to say there isn't a problem with racism and then there is a problem with racism.
That view contradicts itself and I think the author is wrong to confuse Presidential dialogue with an email. The author has not yet begun to scratch the surface. Racist emails come in all colors. While, at the national election level there is plenty of debate.
And sometimes too much.
For others, they use the race card to shut down conversation. These racist groups come in all colors.
If you look up racism in a dictionary.
By definition, our understanding of racism should not be "color blind".
Either that, or perhaps the Tracy Press Editors cut some of the content out and made this letter too short?
There's probably a lot more to this story?
"Are people losing their minds? Everyone just going to pretend that Bush wasn't responsible for the mess we are in."
-Yeah, wha he say. If Bush could have gotten a Democrat controlled Congress to quadrupled it's spending on liar loans, bloated pay and pensions, pork, ACORN, useless projects and on and on... Obama wouldn't have to be doin it.
"Bush got us into this war, this expensive war, with a country that did not have weapons of mass destruction."
-Britain, France, Poland, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Iran etc. said Saddam had WMDs.
Would I rather underestimate a problem? Look at Fannie Mae or Freddie MAC.
"Stop trying to blame our current President for trying to fix the mess were in."
-Point one- he continues to exacerbate the problems
-Point two- Captain Incompetent Thinskin wanted the job. Heat goes with it.
-Point three- He don't like whitey
"We don't make anything in this country anymore and look at us, millions of people with nothing to do."
-with the exception of a thousand sites like the ones below we sure don't make anything anymore...
http://www.americansworking.com/
http://www.devvy.com/made_inthe_usa.html
http://www.buyamerican.com/
http://www.toysmadeinamerica.com/
http://www.stillmadeinusa.com/
http://www.americanmadeproducts.com/category_s/489.htm
http://www.bankrate.com/finance/auto/is-ford-american-made.aspx
another emotional writer
"pso17: What do you get when you mix a weasel with Janet Reno?"
Why would a weasel do that? I thought they had standards
Harry Reid
Joe Biden
Sen Barack Obama
you are right about one thing "Radical change is never easy"
THAT IS WHY WE ARE TRYNG TO STOP IT!!!
Everything our President has done is not going to help, it is going to hurt and worsen the problems you point out like lack of a manufacturing base. Remember NUMMI?
The comments go to the point that this isn't about race, it is about the good of the country.
Amen Amen I say to the last 2 paragrapnhs of this letter, in particular "we need real solutions today in America.
We are desperate for our leaders to be legitimate and honest"
But if you recall your history we did have something called September 11.
Most intelligent political analysts that I talk to say that we would have been at war in Afghanistan even if Al Gore had been in office.
Or were you referring to Iraq where NancyP said she was lied to by the CIA?
pso17: What do you get when you mix a weasel with Janet Reno?
When one make a speech in the public, never mentioned RACE or COLOR. You'll be labeled as racist due to "Polical Correctness."
Polical Correctness hides or distorts the truth about who we are.
Just about all of us are guilty of telling a racist joke, and sometimes we will tell one with the intension of imitating the stupidity of how a bigot speaks, but I don’t think that anyone who opposes President Obama are because they are racist (let’s not forget his late mother was white) in the same way many of us Democrats oppose someone like Alan Keys or the head of the RNC Michael Steele on policy.
We all need to remember that we are all people of color, and I’ve always wondered how would you explain bigotry to someone who has been blind since birth ?