To be fair I wasn't happy with the election results of 2008. I knew that after 8 tumultuous years with President Bush; John McCain didn't have a prayer. He was a sacrificial lamb by the Republican Party. The newly elected President, the young senator from Illinois had what America needed at that time. He was fresh, young, charismatic, a great orator (as long as he had a teleprompter) and he had the right plan. It was short on specifics but Hope and Change sounded pretty good for America. Of course being a staunch conservative I was disappointed with the fact the former POW and senator from Arizona didn't win but like I said, I knew there was no standing in the way of this new rock star, President Obama.
The day after the election I was watching the news and seeing black people crying with joy over the fact that there was finally a black president. Although I knew that President Obama and I would fall on very opposite ends of the political spectrum I have to admit there was some pride in my heart to see our country elect a black man to the highest office in the land. I was genuinely proud of where our country has come from in regards to race relations. From the days of slavery, through the Civil War, and the Civil Rights movement we have changed dramatically in this country on the racial front.
Over the last four years I have strongly disagreed with the president on most issues (foreign affairs, Obamacare to name a few) and supported him where I could. Killing Osama bin Laden was a victory for his administration and making the call to go into Pakistan took some guts. Kudos to President Obama on that decision, but I can honestly say that there has never been a point over the past four years that I thought of President Obama as a black man. He was just simply the President. Race has never once come into my mind when I was disagreeing with the president or approving of his actions. So with that mindset I was very surprised when the idea started to be floated around that if you disapprove of the president you are some how racist. Suddenly it became very clear to me that race baiting was going to be a very big part of the 2012 election.
Today I was involved in another debate on Facebook. First let me say there were Democrats and Republicans engaged in this debate and yet it managed to stay respectful and polite even though the topic was a hot button issue. The question raised was basically is conservatism, racist. There were several good answers from both sides and food for thought but the bottom line is race does play a major role in politics but maybe not in a way you would think. Both parties have zeroed in on specific races to try and get an advantage with them. Not surprisingly Obama has a large lead with black voters but a real war has been raging for the Hispanic vote. This election will be decided by the way Hispanics and Blacks vote. If Romney wins the Hispanic vote and can even dent the African American vote he will win. If Obama maintains his strong lead among blacks and Hispanics turn out for him he will more then likely win. Race is very much a part of politics.
Over the next week I am going to look at racism in politics in a little different way then most would think. I want to explore the issue of false paradigms that cause races to vote a certain way and I want to discuss the very touchy issue of abortion from a racial point of view. I think it will be eye opening. I hope you will read.
As always thanks for reading
Steve
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