I have read from many people that we, all of us, democrats, republicans, pro-lifers and pro-choicers alike should rejoice because at least now we have a black president. Yet, all I want to do, as I described to friends, is take my bed to some foreign country, move it there and hide under it.
I have been trying to formulate a blog post about race in this election, but decided against it as it is a tricky subject. People who do not think that often about race might not get what I am trying to convey, especially in the midst of my jumbled pregnancy-brained writings. So I decided against it on a few occasions for fear I might word something wrong, not get my point across and end insulting everyone. But now that I have back-up, here’s the gist of it: I found myself personally hurt beyond a level I thought was possible as the presidential should not be so personal because many black people boldly stated that they were voting for a black president simply because he is black. Wow. this is not a racial victory, all it is is a litmus test to bring to the forefront how racially ill and divided we are.
Before I say something truly stupid (again, words escape my pregnancy mind), LaShawn Barber stated everything I have been feeling much better than I could:
I read quite a few music and book author blogs, and most of the bloggers are Obama-supporting liberals. I can almost see them patting themselves on the back as they try to convince themselves race means nothing to them and that Obama’s presidency signals the beginning a new era of diversity, tolerance, blah, blah, blah. But they’ve got it twisted. Voting for Obama because he represents some post-racial ideal is to inject race into the equation…
…It the end, it doesn’t matter why white people voted for Obama. He’s the leader of the free world now (shudder). Who I am to interfere with their “I voted for a black man because I don’t care about race” back-patting?
Steele asks what Obama’s election means to blacks. Well, I doubt it will do anything to decrease illegitimacy among blacks (70 percent; as high as 80 percent in some urban areas), or decrease child killing, or strengthen families and communities, or much of anything. It’s a proud moment for many blacks, to be sure, but having a black man in the White House will not motivate black Americans to wait until marriage to have babies, to stop killing their babies (and at three times the rate of white women), or to stop uttering the word racism whenever they don’t get their way…
…As long as families (the foundation of society) are in shambles, conditions won’t improve much. But with Obama in office, white liberals can feel good about themselves and blacks can feel proud, fatherless children and dead babies be damned.