It's Gonna Be a Long, Hot Summer...
We'll know for sure after tomorrow, but if Obama wins Oregon today he could be the first VeryBrownMan to run for President in the history of this country. Although I hope I'm not speaking too soon..."they" were gunning for Obama before, but "they'll" be shooting cannonballs--hell, nuclear missiles-- at him in a few days. And like the skit that aired last Saturday on SNL, "Jesse Jackson" and "Al Sharpton" know "If they find a babymamma, they'll take it away." He better be squeaky clean.
To quote the Brown Man's wife, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback. Not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.” I found an interesting blogpost on this topic here.
I'm proud that some 400+ years after Plymouth Rock landed on us, after 400 years or so of crowded slave ships and horrific transatlantic journeys, maltreatment, broken treaties and Manifest Destiny, the Trail of Tears, Indian Schools, Wounded Knee, Jim Crow and miscegenation laws, the Ku Klux Klan, lynching, Rosa Parks, the assassination of Martin Luther King and Malcom X, Japanese internment camps, the Chinese Exclusion Act, "Uncle Ben" Rice, "Aunt Jemima" pancakes and lawn jockeys, Americans--of all colors--got together and decided enough is enough.
It's pretty freaking cool, cuz despite what's being sold to you on the news these days, all kinds of people have turned out at the polls to give Change a chance, to keep Hope alive. It wasn't just "Black People" all voting for Obama. It's a wonderful thing to see.
But it's also scary as hell, because all the worst of American humanity (if you can even call it that) is about to crawl out from under Plymouth Rock. All the Gollums, hissing and slithering up from the depths of hell with slimy comments and veiled threats and outright nasty, vile and blatantly racist spewings. It's already coming out... they've been hissing for a minute but they're starting to scream right about now.
The gloves are going to come off. And it's not going to be pretty. I've heard several people in Brown communities wonder at Obama's safety, if he won't be "picked off".
More and more references are made to "Barack Hussein Obama", implying he's Muslim, and an evil Muslim at that. (Which begs the question... do we, in this land that was supposedly built on religious freedom, REALLY believe that being Muslim is the same as being a killer, being evil? I wonder how that's even justified in this Land of the Free...)
This summer I'm betting on a BUNCH of things being circulated that'll make brown people go "wha?" The worst, most racist and hurtful things are going to be said. Four hundred years worth of scabs are going to picked at. We're about to see how racist a country we really live in. Most of us already know it... but we're going to be absolutely certain where we stand, for sure.
And it's not that I'm afraid Obama can't handle it... any "black man" crazy enough to run for President has got to know that the heaviest artillery is going to be leveled right at his head. But what I'm hoping is that we all keep our peace. And I'm hoping that people realize that the whole world is watching us. No matter the outcome of this election, history is being made and I hope we all realize that the world is watching. And I also hope that despite the Gollums and the nastiness, despite the scabs that will be picked and the blood that will run, I hope that we see a new America rise up and stand.
And I really hope they lay off his wife... (though I'm betting not.) And I really enjoyed seeing that flash of steel in his eye. They better lay off his wife...
To quote the Brown Man's wife, “For the first time in my adult life, I am really proud of my country, because it feels like hope is making a comeback. Not just because Barack has done well, but because I think people are hungry for change.” I found an interesting blogpost on this topic here.
I'm proud that some 400+ years after Plymouth Rock landed on us, after 400 years or so of crowded slave ships and horrific transatlantic journeys, maltreatment, broken treaties and Manifest Destiny, the Trail of Tears, Indian Schools, Wounded Knee, Jim Crow and miscegenation laws, the Ku Klux Klan, lynching, Rosa Parks, the assassination of Martin Luther King and Malcom X, Japanese internment camps, the Chinese Exclusion Act, "Uncle Ben" Rice, "Aunt Jemima" pancakes and lawn jockeys, Americans--of all colors--got together and decided enough is enough.It's pretty freaking cool, cuz despite what's being sold to you on the news these days, all kinds of people have turned out at the polls to give Change a chance, to keep Hope alive. It wasn't just "Black People" all voting for Obama. It's a wonderful thing to see.
But it's also scary as hell, because all the worst of American humanity (if you can even call it that) is about to crawl out from under Plymouth Rock. All the Gollums, hissing and slithering up from the depths of hell with slimy comments and veiled threats and outright nasty, vile and blatantly racist spewings. It's already coming out... they've been hissing for a minute but they're starting to scream right about now.
The gloves are going to come off. And it's not going to be pretty. I've heard several people in Brown communities wonder at Obama's safety, if he won't be "picked off".
More and more references are made to "Barack Hussein Obama", implying he's Muslim, and an evil Muslim at that. (Which begs the question... do we, in this land that was supposedly built on religious freedom, REALLY believe that being Muslim is the same as being a killer, being evil? I wonder how that's even justified in this Land of the Free...)
This summer I'm betting on a BUNCH of things being circulated that'll make brown people go "wha?" The worst, most racist and hurtful things are going to be said. Four hundred years worth of scabs are going to picked at. We're about to see how racist a country we really live in. Most of us already know it... but we're going to be absolutely certain where we stand, for sure.
And it's not that I'm afraid Obama can't handle it... any "black man" crazy enough to run for President has got to know that the heaviest artillery is going to be leveled right at his head. But what I'm hoping is that we all keep our peace. And I'm hoping that people realize that the whole world is watching us. No matter the outcome of this election, history is being made and I hope we all realize that the world is watching. And I also hope that despite the Gollums and the nastiness, despite the scabs that will be picked and the blood that will run, I hope that we see a new America rise up and stand.
And I really hope they lay off his wife... (though I'm betting not.) And I really enjoyed seeing that flash of steel in his eye. They better lay off his wife...
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But what was more shocking was to hear the reactions my sister got when she pointed this out to the local white folks. Either complete denial or justification "well, it's our history". No acknowledgement that there was even a 'problem'. She's not looking for a solution, but she also is appalled that there isn't even the recognition that there's a problem.