I Can Hardly Wait 'Til This Time Tomorrow
When the votes are counted and we finally know!
I was surprised to learn today that one of my brothers will vote for McCain. Actually, all of my brothers will probably vote for McCain. The two oldest ones because they're racist. Simple fact, folks -- they are. My little bro, though...I always thought him a thinking man. I viewed him as the type to find information on his own and sort it out for himself. But, he's going the way of the military man. I hope it's just a military thing and none of the lies he's heard from McCain's campaign.
None of them of course have talked to me during the campaign or about the campaign. Perhaps it's that my politics are too well known.
Politics aren't a reason to divide a family, though, and they don't.
I do, however, get incensed when people (my mother) say things like "I tell you one thing. I won't vote for that damned Muslim!" WHAT? How loud must we shout it from the rooftops? When you're dealing with that kind of small mindedness, there is no evidence or argument you can present to educate a person.
Most, if not all, of my sisters will vote for Obama. Isn't that interesting? Men against him, women for. At least I have the satisfaction of knowing that I have 4 sisters and only 3 brothers. (YAY!) Our five votes beat your four. Neener neener neener.
Oh, and mom, if it's really that you just can't vote for "that damned Muslim" and don't feel so good about the other guy either, go ahead and vote for Nader. :D
My eldest sister and I were talking the other day about what an Obama presidency would mean. We were discussing how it always takes a Democrat to fix the budget shortcomings and damages that the Republicans do when in office. It happened after Reagan, when Clinton went in and paid off our spiraling out of control national debt and deficits. It's going to happen again now with Obama. And we discussed just what it means to be African American in America and have an African American president. Do you think things will be so different from how they are now? Sadly, I don't. I do think that it will be the first step of many in ending the thoroughly entrenched anti-colour racism in America, but it will not eradicate it in the next four years. It won't end the 'good ole boys clubs' that are the CEOs of nearly every company in the US and the trickle down advantages that power lends to people of a paler persuasion.
Go ahead and say it. That's right. I'm so white I glow in the dark. It's true. I have two biracial children and was married to an African American man. I saw it when he was laid off from his job for lack of work when he took out 40 -- that's right -- FORTY resumes to companies that were hiring for jobs that he was perfectly qualified for to be turned away. He'd say he didn't want to apply for work in such and such town that they were too racist. I wouldn't let that stop me. No. I couldn't believe my country was still so backward. This was the 1990's. It's not true, I said. You go. You apply. You watch what happens. And we did. After two months with no income, he had no choice but to apply for and accept the one position where he was given an offer. What was it for? A cleaner. Sure. It's perfectly acceptable to hire a person of colour for a service position. (The other positions were labor jobs all things for which he had experience, nothing that would change the world.) Then I'd hear it, too. Because of my own race, ignorant people assume I am as ignorant as they are. They would tell me things like, "oh, you don't want to live in that neighborhood ..... " and they'd look around to see who was within earshot and tell me, in a conspiratorial whisper: "there are a lot of blacks there." Wow. I always enjoyed the looks on their faces when I would whisper back in the same conspiratorial tone: "Really? That's awful! I'm married to one of them, too!"
People like that make me ashamed of my own heritage.
I think in ten years, women, blacks, and all other people of colour in the states will still have to work 10 times as hard, achieve 10 times as much, go through 10 times the rigorous proving trials to be judged half as good as their white counterparts. Why is that? You've got the Southern diehards who still cling to the racial hierarchy of slavery times. You've got the wealthy white elitists who still view anyone not of their class as lesser people. You've got the media. I think it is the biggest culprit. You can watch any newscast anywhere in the United States at any time and simply see how much video time is dedicated to showing black criminals and how little video time is dedicated to the white ones. The white criminals reported in the news are clearly "alleged," minimal images are flashed for their stories, and very little airtime is given to those stories. Instead, the focus goes on black crimes/criminals. The message is clear: fear the blacks.
Those of you who only visit the states occasionally, pay attention to the newscasts and you'll see how the media supports the racism in America. I find Canadian news refreshing. Everyone gets equal billing if they're committing crimes and actually crime reporting isn't given the devoted attention it here that it is in the states. There is more positive news reporting here, more current events, more of a world view given to even the local news than anything you could ever watch in the states. Also, all the news reporters don't come from the same package. I love that! Though it's still old white men who have the top anchor spots, you see women of every shape and colour in top spots as well. I love that there are technically overweight newswomen. I don't think that's even possible in the states, though I'm sure someone will correct me if I'm wrong.
I know I've gone down the garden path tonight. The brain is engaged and just rambling along till we get those numbers in about 23 hours. I'll go ahead and try to sleep now.
If you're American, GET OUT AND VOTE tomorrow! Just do it.
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11 comments:
Racism in any form is despicable, but your particular brand of subtile racism and your not so veiled attempts to make yourself seem open-minded and pure is far more offensive to me than those whose motives are evident.
Maybe your brothers (like me) chose not to vote for Obama because they disagree with him. I am tired of people like you pinning a label on anyone who won't vote for Obama as racist.
You know what IS racist? Obama carrying 95% or more of the black vote. If whites were as racist as you seem to think, McCain would have carried the votes of every white person who doesn't feel that they have something to feel guilty about, or something to prove to the world about how tolerant they are.
I for one would love to see racial harmony in our country and in fact in the world. In my mind, the first step toward this is for people to stop bringing race into every discussion and for us all to just be people with ideas.
By the way, your facts about McCain are so ludicrous that you were clearly an uninformed voter.
Now, see, I did not say that any whites who didn't vote for Obama were racist. What I did say was that two of my brothers were not voting for Obama because THEY are racist. I know this. It's a fact of life in my family. My whole family has known it for a very long time. Either one of them will bandy about the N-word in relation to any black person, and heck, they'll apply it to people of colour who aren't African-American, too. It's not something I'm proud of. I'm not entirely sure where they came by those types of sentiments as we were raised by the same parents.
I am positive that more than my two brothers voted against Obama because he's black. That's really not in question.
It's obvious to me that you've never lived in a society without deeply ingrained anti-black racism. Almost all of my life I lived in that same society.
It was incredibly compelling when I moved here with my family (we're in Canada, formerly from Ohio) and my then 14-year old biracial son asked me, "mom, what is so different about black men here?" I responded that, at least in this city the majority of blacks are from Jamaica. He told me, "no. that's not it. They're different. They're....they're....normal." And I got it. It clicked. You don't see the lack of hope in the eyes of blacks here. You don't see years of whites clinging to their purses as they pass them on the street reflected in their eyes. You don't see the boulders on their shoulders from a lifetime of being told "No. We're sorry. Not at this time." Racism does exist here, but -- wow -- it is simply a way of life in the states. The lack of hope in the eyes of black men in the states speaks volumes about the ingrained racism there. I hope today, at least most of those same men have a spark glowing that couldn't catch before last night.
Any person, white, black or indigo who fools either herself or her intimates that all people are judged in America by the content of their character is truly an idiot. I wish to the depth of my being that it were true, but it's not. Women know this. Women know what it means to work twice as hard for half the reward of a white man.
It is the people like you, just like you and your posted comment that have shamed me, have shamed ALL OF US for years and years. You'll pay lip service and you'll say that "all people are equal" but you'll never act on that. You will never walk through life without seeing one immediate difference: race. You'll huddle with the other old women on the far side of the stairwell clutching your purses when a black man walks by. You should be ashamed simply because you deny your own environmentally bred behaviours.
Honestly, it's not about tolerance. Tolerance is just putting up with. It's about acceptance of our fellow human beings as equals. You're obviously not there yet.
Would someone tell me how her post is racist. She is frustrated with people who hide their racism, but she chooses to speak with frankness that is welcome in this world. I'd have voted for Obama, had I been in the states, I can't stand all the white people running in Canada, they seem to boring and dry and not much interesting to watch or hear. (I'm white BTW). We only point out differences because we can see them, truth is, we all bleed red.
So can someone tell me how to sign my mortgage payment, car payment, electric bill etc.? Should I sign it "Ask Obama" or sign it "Refer payment to The Messiah". Not sure which to use, can someone help?
Thanks, you're such dears!
Anonymous said: "So can someone tell me how to sign my mortgage payment, car payment, electric bill etc.? Should I sign it "Ask Obama" or sign it "Refer payment to The Messiah". Not sure which to use, can someone help?"
Oddly enough, when I left the states four years ago it was a time when numerous banks were experiencing "mergers." Thousands of jobs flew out the windows and a select few opened golden parachutes and landed on damned soft ground. We were asking exactly that question. When our CEO and CFO banded together to create multimillion dollar deals that benefitted only them and left four hundred company employees without jobs, we mused whether we should send our past due notices to those fine few who cashed in on our hard work and walked away when things were damned good. What environment makes it possible for companies to sell your jobs so cavalierly? Oh, I don't know. I suppose that would be one in which the Republicans are running Washington & the rest of the country. So long as the fat cats are making big contributions who cares about the little guys?
When our jobs left, the jobs that our company created in its operating towns were gone too. The domino effect was beyond disturbing. It was the beginning of the current economic crisis. It was the beginning of the foreclosures and repossessions. When there simply are no jobs available to those who've been streeted, what else can happen? Oh, but if they were just responsible it wouldn't have happened. Yes, we were responsible for the clandestine meetings held for months deciding our fates. We were responsible for the last-minute notification that our jobs would be gone. We were responsible for finding a new way of life in six weeks or less. I did. Many others did not.
Of course Obama has to raise taxes. McCain would have had to, too. What options are there after the mess Bush has made?
My personal life experience is that when Democrats are ruling average Americans (the bulk of them, mind you) find it easier to break even. And we work damned hard to hit that mark.
You people are sad. Truly sad. Take a look at the taxes the rest of the enlightened world pays. Americans pay almost nothing in comparison.
Hey, its all good to me! I'm laughing all the way home, gal. A friend of mine just qualified to run the Boston Marathon. I figure that I'll just go ahead and join him. When the committee asks for my qualifying time (only the best runners who have worked and trained can participate), I'll just write in "Refer to Obama's redistribution policy...its time to spread the wealth!" HA HA HA I love it! YES WE CAN....take from those who have worked for it and give it to those who haven't. This next 4 years is going to be a LOT of fun for me and I'm looking forward to the break from working so hard. :))
http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/05_39/b3952079.htm
The top 25% of wage-earners in the US pay 86% of all income taxes. How much should they pay? And how much should low-income wage-earners pay? Please stay in Canada.
According to the Congressional Budget office, incomes of the bottom quintile of the population rose 6%, while incomes of the upper fifth rose by 69% in the past 25 years. The top 1% increased by 176%.
So while the cost of living has increased 160% in that same time, only the wealthiest 1% of the country have even come close to having their incomes keep up with inflation.
How much should they, doc? What's your thought on that? Should they be paying out 90% of their income for the average cost of insurance for a family, or should they go ahead and send 86% of it to the government maybe to help subsidize your student loans? Do you think that whether they pay 10 or 1% they have the same economical worries as anyone in any of the higher income brackets?
No. Most of us from the middle on down are just worried about making this months' bills and providing adequate nutrition to our families and having enough leftover for transportation to work. That's just a little too real for you though.
If you're so damned miserable about the prospect of paying off Bush's debts, why did you choose a field where your income will be restricted by hospital administration set salary?
What do you think will become of our country if those debts remain unpaid or the deficit only continues to grow? You want to enjoy the fats of the land but you don't want to be the one responsible when the bills come in. If this crisis isn't turned around (and how else but through tax increases? Even McCain would have had to raise taxes. HW had to and it only helped a small bit because he was so damned wimpy about it. It took Clinton to pay off Reagans' and HW's debts and it took W only months to begin spending more than the income) America will no longer be the one super power in the world. It will no longer be the land of opportunity. It HAS to be taken care of. It isn't pretty. It's very much what most of us deal with daily: increase income, reduce expenses, get in the black some damned how. And that's what's going to happen. That's what HAS to happen.
I keep thinking about Iacocca's saving of Chrysler in the 80's. He went in and worked without a salary and got the workers themselves to accept 10% wage CUTS. And he did it. He saved Chrysler then.
America needs saving now. It's going to take an effort on every person in the country. Big company profits are going to have to be taxed, CEO incomes need to come down so that the monies can be distributed among the employees so that Americans can afford to spend a dollar and get the economy moving again. It won't be easy for anyone.
I don't know how you can be so short sighted and self absorbed in a time like this. At this point, it's not about the individual. It's about the whole damned country.
I'll be in Canada for a long while. I hope that my kids will see opportunities on either sides of the border. Right now, and for the next several years, there is very little on that side to attract many. And that makes me sad.
Like so many before you, what I'm hearing from you is "save me, save me!" Quoting Atlas Shrugged, "Every man is free to rise as far as he's able or willing, but it's only the degree to which he thinks that determines the degree to which he'll rise." At least for now, it's still that way in America. Ironically enough, that which has allowed Obama to win the election is the very thing that his party actively seeks to destroy.
"save me, save me"
Not me, actually. The entire banking industry. GM, Chrysler. Hmmm. Hands-off government has done so damned much to help them do so very well so far. It's obviously working. Let's dig Reagan up and see if he has any other brilliant insights to drive the entire country further from prosperity.
That's the problem with your party. Short sighted tax relief which gives a very short term success that only has serious repercussions in the long term. What, it doesn't? Really? Just look around. Reaganomics has failed our country miserably. You and the others like you who think less taxes and less government involvement is the way need to simply look around. This is where it has gotten us. THIS is not good. THIS seriously compromises America's position as the ONE superpower in the world.
Again, how exactly do you think America can be saved?
You don't have any solutions. You just have this playground mudslinging "democrats are poopy pants. Republicans shit roses." Waaah. Whatever. Grow up. Do some research. Quit making the giant leap from government involvement to socialism. It is a giant leap.
BTW, nice seeing ya Lynn.
I would buy that if every child had access to an equally adequate (not stellar, merely ADEQUATE) education, nutrition, health care. They don't. They're not all playing on the same ballfields. Some have trap doors leading to hell, others have escalators leading to fortune 500 positions offered up through nepotism.
nice diggin', Sherlock. My name's not Lynn and I'm not Republican. Guess that makes you 2 for 2.
And I'm glad you asked, I do have an answer. The democrats and republicans alike have donr our country a grave disservice by allowing the excuse "but it's not my fault. It's my fathers/teachers/boss/insert favorite scapegoat here's fault. I'm not to blame. Cry, cry, cry". There are your whiners. Americans need to get off their fat butts, get a job, and take responsibility for the own actions. We need to stop programs like the "no child left behind". We need discipline back at home and back in the schools. We need to stop dumbing down to the lowest denominator, stop lowering standards so that"everyone can have a chance.". We need to start keeping score again in youth soccer. We need to stop giving crimimals more rights than law-abiding citizens. We need to stop expecting the LEAST in people and start expecting their BEST. So yes madamme, I do have an answer.
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