An unfortunate irony of Barack Obama's rise to the top of the Democratic Party heap and his being thisclose to the Presidency is that contrary to his Mixed ethnicity bringing people together, there are some indications that racial ugliness may actually get worse. Wouldn't that be ridiculous?!
It seems like people who are predisposed to harbor racial prejudice are simply sparked to bring it closer to the surface because of Obama. And the people who are more open minded, more prone to want to strangle those close-minded ones who don't get what he can do for us or understand what he represents in terms of progress. The rift is getting bigger, it is getting harsher, more clearly divided.
Of course this isn't Obama's fault. He can't do anything about all that is put on his shoulders in terms of feelings on both sides of this divide. But somehow, I have to keep believing that in the long run, we will be better off that a "racial" ceiling has been busted and that people, from all sides, can see someone who looks different than others at his level have looked in the relatively long history of this country. The divide of prejudice and discrimination won't close as fast as we might have hoped, and it looks like it may actually widen a bit in the short run. But I do believe eventually it will close, maybe it'll be by inches not feet, but that's progress too.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Posts
1 comment:
I agree that it is good that the "racial" ceiling has been busted. I believe that one of the reasons that we still have so much prejudice is because we don't talk about it enough. We cannot work on problems unless we address them first. The overt racism that has been shown because of the spotlight on Barak Obama has really opened up more doors to addressing the prejudice in American society (and elsewhere). And I also hope that this divide will eventually close as well.
Post a Comment