Race: Part I

If you have been watching the news lately, recall the recent headlines: Harvard professor played the race card; any good neighbor would call police, PETA remains skeptical of [Michael] Vick; considers protests at games, Is race driving the anger at these town hall meetings, and Georgia Office of Rep. Scott Defaced by Swastika. These headlines all indicate that America has her hands full with constructing better race relations in America.

In the later part of July, the Professor Gates' arrest was going away. In the middle of a press conference, on health care reform, a reporter interjected by asking President Obama’s opinion of the arrest. President Obama clearly misspoke by calling Officer Crowley’s actions as being “stupidly.” He later apologized. But Rush Limbaugh and Glenn Beck would not let the situation run its course.

In an interview with Greta Van Susteren, of Fox News’, Limbaugh mentioned: “We’re finding out that this guy’s got a chip on his shoulder. He’s angry at this country. He’s not proud of it… I think there are elements in this country he doesn’t like and he never has liked.” While Limbaugh and his conservative friends are entitled to their opinions of our president, I strongly refute Limbaugh’s remarks. Since February of 2007, and earlier, some conservatives have tried painting President Obama as someone who is out of touch with the founding fathers’ ideologies, as being un-American and have been on a mission to distort his presidency. While it is normal, and rather political, for the opposing party to counter each other’s agenda, it is also extremely disturbing for blatant lies to surface in hopes of twisting the truth. Limbaugh did not stop. He went on to say: “He's using the power of the presidency to remake the country.” Way to go Limbaugh! Each presidential candidate, in one fashion or the other, campaigns on reshaping the country.

In an interview, on Fox News’, Beck said, “[President Obama is] a guy who has a deep-seated hatred for white people or the white culture... I'm not saying he doesn't like white people, I'm saying he has a problem... This guy is, I believe, a racist.” Remarks such as this further divide our country. This infuses racial separations and makes it harder for us to create a nation where the color of our skin does not epitomize who we are as individuals. For an extended period of time, civil rights icons fought in hopes of establishing a country that does not judge the other based on their race. Since the election of the country’s first black president, the dialogue on race has resurfaced. I welcome this. We have so many people who are passionate about uncovering the deeply engrained, stereotypes and critical analysis of the black race. To an individual, there is much more than what you can visualize externally. As a nation that is full of people from all walks of life, with different backgrounds, different life stories and of all race – we have to get to a point where we can embrace people for who they are and accept them as is.