As seems to happen virtually every Presidential election cycle, America finds itself at a crossroad, faced with the opportunity to decide what kind of country it wants to be, what sort of America WE want our country to be. It’s the great thing about democracy, really; every four years We the People get to weigh in one the direction we want our country to head in. Sometimes we get our way, sometimes we don’t…but at the end of the day, we’re all Americans. We should be willing to suck it up, accept that the American people have spoken, and get back to doing our part to make this country the best it can be.
Over the past eight years, I’ve stood by and watched that resolve crack under the weight of anger, racism, and intolerance. On the very day that Barack Obama first took the Oath of Office on January 20, 2009, Republicans in Congress pledged to oppose the new President by any means necessary. No issue would be too small to fight their principled battle, based as it was on sour grapes and the refusal to accept the will of the American people (As in THE REPUBLICAN CANDIDATE- MITT ROMNEY- LOST). For the past seven years, Republicans have refused to countenance ANYTHING that could be considered by The Black Guy in the White House © to be even faintly redolent of victory. AND, there were quick to assure us, it had NOTHING to do with the color of his skin. It would be easy detail the hypocrisy of their clear and obvious racism, but I see no reason to belabor what anyone with a keyboard and an Internet connection could easily discover for themselves.
Through it all, The Black Guy in the White House © has persevered, becoming against all odds one of the greatest Presidents in this country’s history. Barack Obama’s calmness and equanimity in the face of the blatant racism and astonishingly interests vitriol of his detractors on Capitol Hill and in the Right-wing media have been inspirational. How many of us could have done the same thing under similar circumstances? I’m not certain I could have maintained my composure in the dignified manner he has.
There are things an observer could quibble with given the opportunity. Yes, his Nobel Peace Prize may have been a bit premature…or not, depending on your perspective. Having been to the Nobel Peace Center in Oslo, Norway, and observed the display dedicated to Obama’s Peace Prize, it’s clear most of the rest of the world holds him in very high esteem. It’s the sort of thing that makes one wonder what those outside our borders know that American Conservatives don’t.
Or perhaps it really IS about the color of his skin?
The election of America’s first African-American President (who also happens to be half-White) has stripped the veil away from the deep wells of latent racism that still feature prominently in American life. I’d have thought (naively, as it turns out) that here in the 21st century, we would have collectively found a way past old hatreds based on skin color. Turns out we haven’t made nearly as much progress as I’d believed. Racism never went away, not really; it just went underground, becoming more subtle and understated. As soon as The Black Guy in the White House © took the Oath of Office, it was as if open racism became fashionable once again. Once “news” outlets like Fox News Channel legitimized actively disrespecting the President based on the color of his skin, it became the entertainment of choice for a sizable number of knuckle draggers on the Far Right.
Of course, attributing the Rabid Right’s total, complete, and utter opposition to the fact the Barack Obama is drawing breath in the Oval Office is overly simplistic and inaccurate. Once open, virulent racism came back into vogue, so did a deeply mean-spirited personalized hatred directed at President and his family. It may be that knuckle draggers on the Far Right couldn’t stomach the idea of a successful, accomplished African-American President and a polished and extraordinary First Lady. It may also be something more visceral and sinister, the inability to process the reality that someone may not think and believe what one assumes the accepted order of things to be. Too many in this country believe that those who don’t believe as they do- particularly those who aren’t White, Conservative, and Christian- are worthy only of destruction because their very existence threatens all they hold dear.
From where I sit, the choice in November is clear. On the one hand are the forces of darkness- reprobates, knuckle-draggers, and demagogues who run on hatred, fear, and divisiveness. On the other hand are those of us who believe that America’s strength lies in its diversity, that those who live, love, think, and/or believe differently aren’t threats to the Homeland. We believe that those differences, that diversity of thought, creed, and lifestyle, are what make this country great. America isn’t the property of Conservative White Christians, nor is it the property of any special interest group. America belongs to ALL of us, regardless of skin color, religion, sexuality, political beliefs, or any other artificial dividing line.
Come November, we get to find out if Americans still believe in America…or whether we’re headed for a very different, and much darker, future. Stay tuned.
