Before Coffee 5/13/08 Holding out HOPE
There are things that are bugging me that I don’t wish to speak about publicly. And some that I do. This is one of them.
-An article about Obama supporters encountering racism and bigotry while campaigning.
Well, I’m glad I’m not alone now. I’d written before on the blog about the sort of things we were experiencing in Southwestern, PA as Obama supporters. From flat out racist comments from family members, to more shady things like our homemade Obama sign being stolen, yard trashed– comments at the voting booths in both Fayette and Westmoreland County— That article mentions Pennsylvania quite a bit. This is no shock to me, but it makes me a little ashamed. I don’t want people reading the comments of a small population here and figuring everyone from this area thinks that way. It’s not so.
It’s a weird sort of closeted racism and homophobia here. Really, ANYTHING different than what they’re use to, these bigots turn on. They usually do it from behind closed doors or in whispers, which is what bothers me. If they’re so proud of their beliefs, let them openly say how they feel. The polite thing to do is to ignore stupid comments– but I don’t like the feeling like I’m being mocked by them, or looked down upon as a “white volunteer.” – It disgusts me that someone would even say that, or keep dividing these things up into race or gender.
Don’t they remember? Divided we fall.
I have good friends who live in West Virginia as well who are Obama supporters– and unfortunately for them, West Virginia is seen as a big racist state– the hillbillies coming down from their moonshine sheds to vote for the white candidate. Today is their primary… I’m hoping it won’t be like the media says, a landslide victory for her there. I think that wouldn’t amount to a victory for Clinton (she’s already lost the big game) but it would be a landslide victory for idiocy, racism, bigotry, ignorance… SNL would be right, Hillary would have the racist vote.
Maybe I’m just an optimist– but I’m really hoping the quiet, “un-polled” folks like my friends in West Virginia come out and surprise a lot of people today. Make this one close like Indiana. I’m hopeful of that. I guess I’m just hopeful in general. It’s been a good season for that.
3 comments3 Comments so far
[...] Got a lot on mind today and apparently I’m not the only one. [...]
I’m wit ya, brother. WORD!
Really, it is good that people are seeing what we’ve been seeing for years. Let’s bring it to the forefront. America needs to have this conversation. The Elephant in the room is getting noticed.
Hi DJ -
great post, and I’m just getting to your website from Jorge’s.
I’m certainly going to link to that article you linked to. This turn of events (meaning, how the campaigns initially were NOT about race but have solely become about race) has given rise to a new conversation happening for people who were neither alive nor “old enough” to remember the events of the civil rights movement. Namely, people our age an younger, really. I always felt like the college students I teach have SUCH a disconnect with race because they never were faced with it in such ugly ways. Our generation (and that of my students) grew up in the “color blind” (urgh) or the “Flava Flav” (bigger urgh!) generation. FINALLY, they are “getting” what our brothers and sisters fought for in the 50s/60s — racial equality. When I talk about this with the students, they always answered me back with “That isn’t the way it is now,Liza.” oohhh… yeah?????
Interesting part about the woman who was fed up making the calls – my response as a person of color is, “Yeah, but you had a choice to no longer be a part of that discourse.” As a person of color, I don’t have a *choice* to disconnect – I am AlWAYS in the game. So, that brings rise to another part of the conversation I plan on highlighting with my students.
Rock on, DJ. You’re doing great work and role modeling activism for your kids.
The Elephant isn’t just getting noticed ..it’s stompin’ the hell around!