As I feared, the election is only 11 days old and the seeds of hate have sprouted already. Crosses are being burned, young school children are chanting things like, "Assassinate Obama!" In other places, black effigies are being hanged from trees. People are being assaulted because of the color of their skin, threatening notes are being left in mail boxes, homes and cars are being defiled with graffiti with racial overtones.
I almost expected that this sort of thing might happen in the deeper parts of the south, but it is happening in California, supposedly the most liberal state in the nation and in Maine--one of our favorite spots. Three black effigies were strung up in trees on Mount Desert Island, the home of Bar Harbor playground of the wealthy, a place were artists congregate to capture the unspoiled wilderness on canvas. I checked further and found out that the editor of the Mount Desert Islander, the small local paper, was just as upset as I and for some of the very same reasons. How could a place that prides itself on its liberalism be so bigoted? The editor has called for the local citizens to "out" whoever commited this terrible crime. I don't know if that will happen, but it should.
A couple of days after I read the AP piece, I was browsing our local News and Messenger and lo and behold, there was a letter to the editor form a fellow by the name of Tainter that was fairly dripping with racism and unadulterated hate. Here is what he had to say:
"Those of you who voted for Barack Obama snubbed honor, integrity, valor, wisdom, experience, sacrifice and duty to country. John McCain embodies all of these virtues along with military officer training; time and battle tested inner strength and resolve that few can match; and a lifetime of service to America.
He is a bona fide American hero who has proven himself time and again — we know that he will do the right thing. Today, I truly worry about what will become of America.
As a child, I was taught that patriots like John McCain were to be trusted, revered and put in positions of authority.
I was taught that personal responsibility was one’s civic duty and crucial to the success of this great nation.
Even the Democrat motto was “Ask not what your country can do for you; ask what you can do for your country.” Those of you that voted for Barack Obama dismissed the qualities of a true leader and patriot but instead fell for enticing rhetoric, empty promises, no experience, outmoded policies, questionable associations and the radical ideals of a socialist agenda.
Obama’s view is clearly that individuals are not responsible for themselves. You voted for “change?”
Two things will change. The first is that you will have less money. Not only will your taxes go up, regardless of what Obama said, but increased taxes on business will raise the cost of goods and services plus lower your 401(k) employer contributions.
The second change will be that Obama and the liberals will back peddle on all of those empty promises that suckered many of you in. You voted for “hope?” You had better hope that the terrorists and other enemies are not emboldened by the intellectual arrogance, naiveté, inexperience and inevitable perception of weakness in Obama. Biden predicted this!
Did you really fall for the enticing rhetoric and the disingenuous, leftist “mainstream” media hype?
I’m sorry, but you were had. Now we, our children and grand children, will all pay the exorbitantly high price of your irrational, “feel good” choice.
ANDY TAINTER
Manassas "
Here is what I had to say:
"Earlier this week, I wrote a letter to the editor with my thoughts as to why the Republicans lost the election in Prince William County, Virginia and across the nation. I believe they lost because of STRIDENT MEANNESS.
That letter has not been published, and that may be OK because Andy Tainter’s letter (Obama supporters have been had) on Nov. 14, makes my case better than anything I possibly could have written.
It has been some time since I have read a letter so filled with pure malevolence and meanness. Hate fairly drips from the page as Mr. Tainter excoriates President-elect Barack Obama and his supporters.
He has dragged out the same old accusations that cost the Republicans the election and unless they change, will cost them more in the future.
Interestingly enough, this obnoxious letter was printed alongside one written by Emily Cameron (Obama was well worth the wait) that was filled with hope, awe and fervent expectation.
It was front-page news as far as I am concerned. This country has made history; we have been witness to one of the greatest events in our time. Now as a nation, we must rally around this new president and help him bring our nation out of the chaos that he has inherited.
GEORGE S. HARRIS
Manassas "
These two letter have caused some discussion on both sides of the argument. You can see more at: http://www.insidenova.com/isn/news/opinion/letters_to_the_editor/article/we_must_rally_around_obama/24699/
If you want to see what started this blog--go here:
http://www.comcast.net/articles/news-general/20081115/Obama.Racial/
It is still my fervent prayer that racism will die with this election, but the evidence seems to point in another direction.
Saturday, November 15, 2008
Monday, November 10, 2008
A history lesson
Ever since the early morning hours of November 5, 2008, I have watched, listened to and read about events involving our president elect—Senator Barak Obama. Many times, my eyes fill with tears and my chest swells with pride to think about how far this nation has come. You could blame it on my being an old man, but it is more than than that.
To understand, you must know a little more about me. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma that was a “Jim Crow” town. No black persons lived in my town, they could not stay there overnight and they had a very difficult time finding a place to eat. Until I left home at the age of 18, I had only had one encounter with a black person—a railroad porter when I took a short train trip to Muskogee. He took me by the hands and swung me down off the train. When I got on the platform, I wiped by hands back and forth like I was trying to wipe something off. He said to me, “Don’t worry boy, it won’t rub off.”
At 18, I left home and joined the Navy. When we got to Kansas City, MO, I met my first black person that I would have any interaction with. He and several of us wanted to attend a movie. When we went to purchase tickets, the ticket agent would not sell us a ticket for this man. This was the first time I understood discrimination. I didn’t think discrimination existed in my hometown—it didn’t dawn on me that being a “Jim Crow” town was discriminatory. It’s odd how we simply ignore things when we don’t see it in action; i.e., I never saw anyone do anything outright that was be considered discriminatory because there was no one around to discriminate against!
Now, over 55 years later, I have a black son-in-law and two beautiful mixed race grandchildren. And I consider myself to NOT be a racist. I will admit that there have been times in my life when this was not always so, but being in the military and being an officer, exposed me to many people of many races. Seeing them in “real” life made me realize that the amount of melanin in one’s skin doesn’t affect who they are and what they are capable of doing, given the opportunity. I have seen people of many different races bleed and die as the result of war. Their blood, their pain, their “insides” are the same as everyone else’s.
And now we have a president elect who looks different than any other president we have ever had in this country. His beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters look different than any other First Lady or children who have lived in the White House. He has been reviled personally, his motives have been challenged, his religion and his citizenship have been questioned and his capability to handle the responsibilities of the presidency has been repeatedly demeaned.
But what has happened is that the people of our nation have chosen to trust this different looking man because he has offered us hope and the promise of change. He comes at a time when this nation is nearly overwhelmed. Our economy is in absolute chaos; our military is involved in two very unpopular wars, one of which may well have been started as the result of a leadership that mislead the American public. More than 4,700 young Americans have died and more than 30,000 have been wounded—many of them with injuries that will forever alter their lives. Finally, a large portion of the world’s population has lost faith in our nation as a world leader. We are spending a billion dollars a month on the wars and transferring uncountable billions of dollars to buy oil from nations that would have nothing to do with us if it weren’t for the oil they sell us.
It has been said that president elect Obama is facing times that are as bad as or maybe worse than those faced by Abraham Lincoln in 1861 or that Franklin D. Roosevelt faced when he took office in 1933. Many Americans believe he will rise to the occasion and I am among them.
On November 4, we saw history being made. We have stepped onto a new path and we are trusting this new man to lead us in the right direction. God bless him and God bless this nation.
To understand, you must know a little more about me. I grew up in a small town in Oklahoma that was a “Jim Crow” town. No black persons lived in my town, they could not stay there overnight and they had a very difficult time finding a place to eat. Until I left home at the age of 18, I had only had one encounter with a black person—a railroad porter when I took a short train trip to Muskogee. He took me by the hands and swung me down off the train. When I got on the platform, I wiped by hands back and forth like I was trying to wipe something off. He said to me, “Don’t worry boy, it won’t rub off.”
At 18, I left home and joined the Navy. When we got to Kansas City, MO, I met my first black person that I would have any interaction with. He and several of us wanted to attend a movie. When we went to purchase tickets, the ticket agent would not sell us a ticket for this man. This was the first time I understood discrimination. I didn’t think discrimination existed in my hometown—it didn’t dawn on me that being a “Jim Crow” town was discriminatory. It’s odd how we simply ignore things when we don’t see it in action; i.e., I never saw anyone do anything outright that was be considered discriminatory because there was no one around to discriminate against!
Now, over 55 years later, I have a black son-in-law and two beautiful mixed race grandchildren. And I consider myself to NOT be a racist. I will admit that there have been times in my life when this was not always so, but being in the military and being an officer, exposed me to many people of many races. Seeing them in “real” life made me realize that the amount of melanin in one’s skin doesn’t affect who they are and what they are capable of doing, given the opportunity. I have seen people of many different races bleed and die as the result of war. Their blood, their pain, their “insides” are the same as everyone else’s.
And now we have a president elect who looks different than any other president we have ever had in this country. His beautiful wife and two beautiful daughters look different than any other First Lady or children who have lived in the White House. He has been reviled personally, his motives have been challenged, his religion and his citizenship have been questioned and his capability to handle the responsibilities of the presidency has been repeatedly demeaned.
But what has happened is that the people of our nation have chosen to trust this different looking man because he has offered us hope and the promise of change. He comes at a time when this nation is nearly overwhelmed. Our economy is in absolute chaos; our military is involved in two very unpopular wars, one of which may well have been started as the result of a leadership that mislead the American public. More than 4,700 young Americans have died and more than 30,000 have been wounded—many of them with injuries that will forever alter their lives. Finally, a large portion of the world’s population has lost faith in our nation as a world leader. We are spending a billion dollars a month on the wars and transferring uncountable billions of dollars to buy oil from nations that would have nothing to do with us if it weren’t for the oil they sell us.
It has been said that president elect Obama is facing times that are as bad as or maybe worse than those faced by Abraham Lincoln in 1861 or that Franklin D. Roosevelt faced when he took office in 1933. Many Americans believe he will rise to the occasion and I am among them.
On November 4, we saw history being made. We have stepped onto a new path and we are trusting this new man to lead us in the right direction. God bless him and God bless this nation.
Sunday, November 2, 2008
The Election of 2008 Draws Nigh
In two more days the people of this Nation will vote in what is an historic election. For the first time in the 232 years since our forefathers signed the Declaration of Independence in Philadelphia, a mixed race man (Black and Caucasian) will be running for and probably will be elected president.
I prefer the term "mixed race" since that is exactly what he is. A great many Americans are "mixed race" people--more than we might have ever thought. Races that have been mixed in include: Black (or African), non-black Africans, Oriental, American Indian or Native Americans, Indian from India, all of the Latino mixtures (most Mexican, Central and South Americans are already "mixed"--Spanish and any one of the native groups in those countries over the centuries--some include them as Native Americans--I have chosen to separate them since they now make up what we now seem to consider a unique "race"), Pacific Islanders and mixtures of mixtures. You might say that many of us who identify ourselves as "white" are really some form of "off-white". Either we dodn't know or are unwilling to admit it.
Back to my original thought. This election will even be historical if Senator Barak Obama is not elected since it will still be the first time a man we "Whites" have chose to label "African-American" was nominated and ran for president. If Sena tor Obama is elected, it will say much about this country and will give great hope to all people of color that you can be anything you want to be in the country, but it won't be given to you. You must work for it and work very hard. you must be willing to overcomed all kinds of roadblocks and obstacles that invariably will be put in your path. It means you must be prepared to be attacked from all sides since your religion or the color of your skin or your political leanings will surely be assailed by someone who disagrees with any or all of these things and many others that I haven't the brainpower to think of any more.
Senator Obama has made many promises that seem to promise the ideals of President Ronald Reagan's "shining city on the hill." This nation is in two unpopular wars and we have lost over 4,000 young Americans killed and tens of thousands more have been wounded and maimed for life. We euphemistically call these wounds "life altering events." We are in the greatest economic chaos since the Great Depression of 1929. Billions of dollars have been lost in investments gone bad. Perhaps millions of people have lost their homes and millions are unemployed. More than 50 million people have not health coverage. And who knows how many go to bed cold and hungry every night.
Senator Obama says he will fix these things and I hope that to be the case. Every generation has someone who comes along and often is theman or woman of the hour. In my generation, that person was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. For the first twelve years of my life, I knew no other president. I once told my Mother that I would be glad when I was grown so I would not have to obey anyone but God and Roosevelt. FDR, as everyone called him, gave this Nation hope and helped bring us out of what was then the greatest depression the world had ever known. Oh yes, we did wind up in a war that involved most of the world and millions were killed and millions more were maimed for life. But we survived it and were a better, stronger nation. Perhaps the most powerful in the world at that time.
Years later, another young man came along when our spirits were down and gave us a new Camelot in our Nation's capital city. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a wealthy senator from Massasschussets, a Roman Catholic and a hero of World War II, was elected president and with his beautiful wife Jacquelyn, brought youth, beauty and hope to our land. He was struckdownby a demented assassin in Dallas, Texas and the world grieved for his loss.
Nearly 20 years later a former actor and former governor of California, Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected as our president. Again, we had a president whose enthusiasm and zest for life gave us great hope. While I don't agree the he was responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, he did open doors to that nation that previously had been closed. His famous, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" quote in Berlin was heard around the world and shortly thereafter a new world order came into being. Reagan--another man for a generation.
And so, it may be that we are standing at the forefront of another such opportunity An oportunity to elect a new "generational man". I hope we are up to it and I hope his promises can be kept.
I prefer the term "mixed race" since that is exactly what he is. A great many Americans are "mixed race" people--more than we might have ever thought. Races that have been mixed in include: Black (or African), non-black Africans, Oriental, American Indian or Native Americans, Indian from India, all of the Latino mixtures (most Mexican, Central and South Americans are already "mixed"--Spanish and any one of the native groups in those countries over the centuries--some include them as Native Americans--I have chosen to separate them since they now make up what we now seem to consider a unique "race"), Pacific Islanders and mixtures of mixtures. You might say that many of us who identify ourselves as "white" are really some form of "off-white". Either we dodn't know or are unwilling to admit it.
Back to my original thought. This election will even be historical if Senator Barak Obama is not elected since it will still be the first time a man we "Whites" have chose to label "African-American" was nominated and ran for president. If Sena tor Obama is elected, it will say much about this country and will give great hope to all people of color that you can be anything you want to be in the country, but it won't be given to you. You must work for it and work very hard. you must be willing to overcomed all kinds of roadblocks and obstacles that invariably will be put in your path. It means you must be prepared to be attacked from all sides since your religion or the color of your skin or your political leanings will surely be assailed by someone who disagrees with any or all of these things and many others that I haven't the brainpower to think of any more.
Senator Obama has made many promises that seem to promise the ideals of President Ronald Reagan's "shining city on the hill." This nation is in two unpopular wars and we have lost over 4,000 young Americans killed and tens of thousands more have been wounded and maimed for life. We euphemistically call these wounds "life altering events." We are in the greatest economic chaos since the Great Depression of 1929. Billions of dollars have been lost in investments gone bad. Perhaps millions of people have lost their homes and millions are unemployed. More than 50 million people have not health coverage. And who knows how many go to bed cold and hungry every night.
Senator Obama says he will fix these things and I hope that to be the case. Every generation has someone who comes along and often is theman or woman of the hour. In my generation, that person was Franklin Delano Roosevelt. For the first twelve years of my life, I knew no other president. I once told my Mother that I would be glad when I was grown so I would not have to obey anyone but God and Roosevelt. FDR, as everyone called him, gave this Nation hope and helped bring us out of what was then the greatest depression the world had ever known. Oh yes, we did wind up in a war that involved most of the world and millions were killed and millions more were maimed for life. But we survived it and were a better, stronger nation. Perhaps the most powerful in the world at that time.
Years later, another young man came along when our spirits were down and gave us a new Camelot in our Nation's capital city. John Fitzgerald Kennedy, a wealthy senator from Massasschussets, a Roman Catholic and a hero of World War II, was elected president and with his beautiful wife Jacquelyn, brought youth, beauty and hope to our land. He was struckdownby a demented assassin in Dallas, Texas and the world grieved for his loss.
Nearly 20 years later a former actor and former governor of California, Ronald Wilson Reagan was elected as our president. Again, we had a president whose enthusiasm and zest for life gave us great hope. While I don't agree the he was responsible for the collapse of the Soviet Union, he did open doors to that nation that previously had been closed. His famous, "Mr. Gorbachev, tear down this wall!" quote in Berlin was heard around the world and shortly thereafter a new world order came into being. Reagan--another man for a generation.
And so, it may be that we are standing at the forefront of another such opportunity An oportunity to elect a new "generational man". I hope we are up to it and I hope his promises can be kept.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)