People suck

[ericadawn16]

I wavered between the Aargh!! avatar and the Sad avatar, went with the sad one.

Everyone knows I'm an Obama supporter but this article is about more than that. It's about one of the uglier aspects of America that we tend to hide. I know I cringe when I hear my boss referred to as "colored" but do I correct them? Not always, I'm ashamed to admit. Sometimes, I don't even tell them as to her real name.

This was published in the Washington Post yesterday. It's a must read.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/05/12/AR2008051203014_pf.html

Comments

[random-redshirt.livejournal.com]

Yikes, that's horrible.

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Yes...sometimes, I wonder why the South has such a bad reputation because the older people from the North are way more likely to use "colored" or make a comment if something goes wrong on an employee being black and presumably at fault.

Although the first time I heard many of these words used by someone not on tv or in a movie was a housemate from New Jersey in college who was my age. He used words that I didn't know which races he was insulting with them.

[cherishthepast.livejournal.com]

As someone who's from a 98% white community in Pennsylvania, a lot of the things in this article outraged me, but really didn't surprise me. And that makes me unbelievably sad. (It also hardens my resolve to finally get out of this place.)

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Aww

(hugs)

I hope that happens, but I also hope our generation is the one that changes things. In just ten years, I've seen my town go from fairly bigoted to having lots of multiracial couples and starting to be more open to Homosexuality. I'm going to try and be less silent.

[joyful-molly.livejournal.com]

I'm afraid this pretty much confirms the impression people have over here about the elections in the USA. People's predictions are "why do they hold an election, anyway, they'll take the republican again as usual, and if a miracle happens and it's Obama, he'll be shot within two weeks."

They've shown a documentary some weeks ago about the presidential race, and huh. Frightening. "Obama? Sounds like Osama. Dun need no Obama Bin Laden here."

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

I'm going to have faith in the Secret Service. The ones I've been around seem very competent although I was more impressed with the security when Kerry made an appearance during his Presidential campaign than Bush's appearance two months before that. At Kerry's appearance, the SS...yes, they all wore pins with SS instead of Secret Service or some logo denoting them...I totally cringed. like you seriously want your elite security known as SS?

Anyway, they had us volunteers pre-screen everyone with bags. I'd already done security for an Edwards appearance before that. Then, they ran everyone through metal detectors and turning their cellphones on as well as having snipers on the roof.

Bush and his brother had been at a business meeting thing at a hotel downtown two months before. We weren't allowed near the hotel where it was held but we could wait along the road where they would come out. There were no metal detectors or pat downs. He was right across from us, just a few feet, and the car had stopped until someone yelled "Boo to the brothers!" when it totally sped off.

By the way, when I told my mom that I'd seen the President, her next question was, "Are you calling from jail?"

Everyone else I told was confused, "But I thought you hate him so why did you go?"

Still, all these years and Bush hasn't gotten shot or anything so the Secret Service must be doing something right.

[jackdavfan692.livejournal.com]

Wow! Talk about eye-opening =/! The writer was right on when he pointed out there was a glaring contrast between Obama's experience at his rallies and that of the people who are canvassing for him around the country! I have no illusion that every American in every state has not a smidgen of some form of racism or prejudice, but for either to rear its ugly head in Pennsylvania, of all places, is enormously disappointing, to say the least (home of "the City of Brotherly Love", HELLO! B|). The campaigners' reception in Indiana, on the other hand, I'm not quite as surprised by. We are talking about the Midwest, after all, whose residents, despite insistences to the contrary, do indeed "cling to guns and religion", to quote Senator Obama.

The ways the residents of Kokomo showed their dislike of Obama sounded positively frightening =[! I mean vandalism? Not just one, but three bomb threats? Yikes! It's amazing someone didn't get hurt =|! Those campaigners deserve heaps of praise and respect for essentially putting their lives on the line like that! Just, WOW!

[ericadawn16.livejournal.com]

Yeah, that's why I posted it although myself and others suffered plenty of verbal abuse during the 2004 campaign from people calling us traitors and unpatriotic and just plain assholes...and that was here in Florida. I remember one MoveOn meeting with Michael Moore that got picketed by soldiers.

The racism makes it so much worse though...just disgusting.

I still have faith that Dr King's dream will be a reality someday in spite of everything.