Election Nonsense

It has taken me a minute to get this down and I hope that I remember all of the points that I want to make. If not, I guess it will be in a follow-up blog but I have to write about the current stuff going on with the election. Isnt this election getting silly? I couldn't help but laugh when Barack Obama asked a crowd sarcastically if John McCain was serious about attacking him with the now infamous "superstar" ad. Then as Obama "played the race card" according to McCain, all hell broke loose for a bit. I think that I understood what Obama was saying and McCain has it half right in my opinion...Obama is not playing the race card but he is expressing a major theme in this election. Although McCain and alot of folks will not admit it, this election is VERY much about race. And interestingly enough race is not only an issue with whites but with blacks.

So many have taken issue with the statement that Obama made about not looking like the other presidents on the currency. If you think about it, that is the basis of the attacks against him from the conservative talking heads. They attack him on his name (it sounds Muslim) and they use slang in a supposedly joking manner when attacking his policies. So once again, this isn't about race? Could have fooled me, sounds like race is at the forefront of the attacks on a candiate that apparently has few major weaknesses (thus John McCain's ridiculous TVad that started all of this.)

I feel that if you truly dont like Obama, his politics or just think this isnt his time, then I can respect that. What gets me is that many people wont vote for him not for the reasons I stated above but for arbitrary, silly reasons that have nothing to do with politics or the type of leader he can be. This pales in comparison to the divisions within the black community over why many will not vote for him. Dont vote for Obama simply because he is black, exercise some common sense. However, dont turn this into the usual debate about being black enough or having some sort of credibility among blacks. Whether you grew up poor in the hood or well off in the suburbs, there is one common thread that we have as black folks, the stigma of being singled out by racism be it overt or covert. Based on that, I think it is ridiculous to believe that Obama cannot relate to black people simply because he is biracial and didnt grow up like the average. We need to let go of this type of thinking if we want to truly unify and become a powerful voting bloc that is apparent among other minority groups. I heard a report on NPR during the primaries when they asked Hispanics about who they would more than likely vote for. One young woman said that she couldnt vote for Obama because she thought he would be more for blacks and that as a people we would more or less "take over". I laughed at her sheer ignorance and thought that it would not be in anyone's interest for Obama to be the president for one group of people and secondly we cant even unify behind him as a candidate. Hell, if he got in office I still think we would find a reason to reject him.

Obama had good reason to make the statement that he did. It wholeheartedly reflected the view of most that someone who doesn't look like past presidents cant be president. This is the view of alot of people whether they choose to admit it or not. This also reflects the larger issue that we continue to duck critical issues of race instead of dealing with them. Obama's candidacy I think will force some discussions to happen. We need to talk about these issues, it is the thing that continues to divide not only our country but it divides black folks even more deeply. I think this division is the one that hurts the most.