Hate and Fear in America

40 years after the devastating deaths of Bobby Kennedy, of Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and the end of the "civil rights movement", many would had thought that racial reconciliation was at the forefront and racism was disappearing. Although the issue of racism and hatred was talked about behind close doors, the current presidential election has re-surfaced the issue and put it at the forefront of our politics.

Following the September 11 attacks on our country, many Americans fear the idea that anyone associated with Muslims are terrorist. Although the attackers who where part of the attacks where Muslim, not all who proclaim the faith are terrorist.

If the election where held today, the polls would conclude that Obama would win the presidency of the United States. Interestingly enough, to many people in this country, having a black president would surely allow them to say, "there is no racism in America".

Although we have come a long way from the 1960s, there is still social injustices in our country that constitute racism. There are still people in part of the US that are showing hatred and fear for change, not the change that Obama preaches, but the psychological change that US citizens would face having an African American in the highest office.



An example of this can be seen on the Al-Jazeera English News Broadcast, which portrays the ideology of some of the anti-Obama supporters. It seems that for many, McCain is the best choice, not necessarily because of his stance on the issues, but because he is not the assumed Black muslim man with connections to terrorist.

More importantly what is interesting in this news clip is the negative slander on Obama's affiliation to terrorist, or the idea that he is a Muslim.

First of all, it is disturbing that the McCain campaign would allow such type of slander happen when it comes to his affiliation to an ex domestic terrorist. Obama was 8 years old when this man was a domestic terrorist and the only connection that we see is the partnership as members of a school reform project.

Secondly, Obama is not Muslim! But if he was, so what?! If he was a Muslim, not only would he continue to be a honest and honorable man, he would still be an American, a loyal one for that matter. Muslim is a faith practice, just like Christians and/or Jews.

Lets Assume he is a Muslim. Would that give him ties to Terrorist? No. Would that make him a terrorist? No. It is hard for me to understand why people associate Muslim with Terrorist. It shows fear through ignorance. Fact Check: Not all terrorist are Muslim. And not All Muslims are terrorist.

Have you ever watched the show 24? Well if you are a fan, you would see that the writers give a great idea that terrorist are not all from the Middle East, or Muslim for that matter. In many occasions, it is those from our own country or people from European countries.

Going back to the discussion of fear. I understand that Sept 11 has brought fear to many. But to assume that if Obama is elected president, on the false assumption that he is a Muslim, that he will promote terrorism or allow for our country to be attacked is ridiculous. I have the belief that if someone is running for office of a country, they have complete loyalty, they want to make that particular office better and run their position to the best of their ability, regardless of race, gender, faith etc.

When the Lady in the video says, "I am afraid if he wins, the black will takeover" or the lady that says, "I dont like the fact that he thinks us White people are trash, because we are not", it shows anger in these people. Obama has NEVER said Whites are trash! And to say that if he wins, the Blacks will takeover is beyond belief with no statistical evidence.

These are ignorant statements, but the dangerous part of this is not that they are ignorant, they have the illusion of knowledge. What if the blacks do take over? It would definitely bring a new perspective to the table, but Obama is clearly not about overpowering the government with blacks? He is about bringing those who are better equip to run this country. Those can be Whites, Blacks, Hispanics, Asians, Men, Women, Muslims, Jews, Christians, etc.

Even though, an Obama win will bring a new idea of change, the past ideas of racism and hatred will continue to haunt our country. Similar to a situation in Senior chapel, incidents (can be good or bad) can bring out discussion about issues of racism and prejudices. An Obama administration might just do that.

Are we ready to bring it to the table?