One Strike and We're Out

[KING BRISKET]

It is no mystery that Barack Obama had to overcome racism in his efforts to become president of the United States. Death threats came often during his campaign, and many caucasian americans stated they would move to Canada if he was elected. Personally, I think the U.S. has come a long way, considering the democratic nominees were a black man and a female. However, I have a feeling that if Obama has a bad term(hmmm.....let's say, he does half as bad a job as Bush) it will make it that much harder for another minority canidate to be elected president.

Thoughts?

 

[urdailywater]

It is no mystery that Barack Obama had to overcome racism in his efforts to become president of the United States. Death threats came often during his campaign, and many caucasian americans stated they would move to Canada if he was elected. Personally, I think the U.S. has come a long way, considering the democratic nominees were a black man and a female. However, I have a feeling that if Obama has a bad term(hmmm.....let's say, he does half as bad a job as Bush) it will make it that much harder for another minority canidate to be elected president.

Thoughts?

It might or might not.

I don't believe he had to overcome racism as much as the fact that he had to overcome republicans. Race/Sex wasn't the biggest issue since most blacks vote democrat anyways. Not sure about females, of course, that wouldn't matter much since Hilary never had much of a chance anyways.

The dirt thrown around wasn't about race a lot of the times... it was more about "Obamas a muslim" and other bullcrap the media/friends/family can throw around.

 

[AltF4]

...actually, you're probably right. If Obama winds up making some kind of huge mistake, I could see it being a hard blow for future non-"elderly white guy" politicians.

But that is looking rather unlikely. I mean, jeez, Obama's not even actually the president yet, and he's pretty much running the place as if he were. He's looking pretty prepared so far.

 

[Darxmarth23]

Yeah. This could happen if Obama makes a mistake.

But....

What if its not Obamas fault?

 

[East]

As much as I would like to believe he won't make a mistake [cause I voted for him] he's in office during a very very pivotal time in today's age. A lot of America's future rest on him and his administration. If they do a great job, I will happily applaud, but if they fault here or there, it wouldn't surprise me, although we won't really know if he makes a mistake in office until years later when we see the effects of their decisions.

Death threats came often during his campaign, and many caucasian americans stated they would move to Canada if he was elected.

I feel sorry for the Canadians.

 

[The 5th Horseman]

It's sad but true.

People will look at the color instead of the person and blame the color for him doing a bad job. But that's America....

 

[Lord Viper]

Yeah. This could happen if Obama makes a mistake.

But....

What if its not Obamas fault?

That's a good question, but it depends on what happens. If an attack from another country happens, if the US have higher death rates than any other country, or how many crimes are in the environment. 2/3 things I just said is technically not the presdent's falut, but the economy as a whole.

 

[smaci92]

I think obama will be a great president...

I feel sorry for the Canadians.

Ya, I feel sorry for myself

 

[RDK]

The sad truth is that anything Obama does, even if it doesn't have a bad end result, will be criticized relentlessly by the Republicans.

It's almost like it was a privelege for him to even be elected in the first place, and if he screws up just a little bit everyone will turn around and say "I TOLD YOU SO!"

I mean I don't necessarily agree with all of his political views, but good Lord, the kind of blind hate shown towards the man by conservatives is just disgusting.

 

[Firus]

many caucasian americans stated they would move to Canada if he was elected.

Mm...I jokingly said that a few times, and that was about his policies, not his race. But it was definitely a joke in my case, because it'd be stupid to avoid his policies by moving to Canada. That would not only be uneconomical and reckless, but it wouldn't solve the problem anyways.

I think people said that about Bill Clinton and the possibility of Hillary as well. I also heard people saying they'd move to Canada if McCain got elected. It's just become a political joke to say that if your candidate doesn't win, you're moving to Canada. At least, that's my impression.

The sad truth is that anything Obama does, even if it doesn't have a bad end result, will be criticized relentlessly by the Republicans.

Let's not make this one-sided...both sides of the political spectrum do this.

Although it occurs to me now that that statement wasn't necessarily directed to be one-sided, so I don't mean that as an opposing statement, merely as a means of clarification.

As a Republican personally, though, I'm not going to criticize him just for being a Democrat. If he does a good job, I'll happily be proven wrong. This is too precarious of a time in history to say "He should screw up so I can be right!"

Anyways, I don't necessarily think that this is true, but then again I suppose I'm being an idealist. Too many people in this world are judgmental and stereotypical enough that they would never elect a black president again because one of them screwed up badly.

 

[RDK]

Let's not make this one-sided...both sides of the political spectrum do this.

Although it occurs to me now that that statement wasn't necessarily directed to be one-sided, so I don't mean that as an opposing statement, merely as a means of clarification.

As a Republican personally, though, I'm not going to criticize him just for being a Democrat. If he does a good job, I'll happily be proven wrong. This is too precarious of a time in history to say "He should screw up so I can be right!"

Anyways, I don't necessarily think that this is true, but then again I suppose I'm being an idealist. Too many people in this world are judgmental and stereotypical enough that they would never elect a black president again because one of them screwed up badly.

Most of the time I have a pretty unbiased view of all the bickering that goes on, being that I'm neither Republican nor Democrat, but you can't honestly deny that if the mainstream conservative Christian crowd got a hold of Obama they wouldn't immediately burn him at the stake as a witch.

Although this is just from personal experience, so take it with grain of salt.

 

[Firus]

Most of the time I have a pretty unbiased view of all the bickering that goes on, being that I'm neither Republican nor Democrat, but you can't honestly deny that if the mainstream conservative Christian crowd got a hold of Obama they wouldn't immediately burn him at the stake as a witch.

Although this is just from personal experience, so take it with grain of salt.

Nah, I agree with you. I know there are a ton of people who would immediately burn him at the stake given the chance. I see where you're coming from, just wanted to clarify that it's not JUST Republicans. I mean, Democrats and Liberals have been metaphorically burning Bush at the stake for the past eight years. Not that he's not made mistakes, but he's gotten crap undeservedly at times.

Not to completely derail this thread, though.

 

[pockyD]

Most of the time I have a pretty unbiased view of all the bickering that goes on, being that I'm neither Republican nor Democrat, but you can't honestly deny that if the mainstream conservative Christian crowd got a hold of Obama they wouldn't immediately burn him at the stake as a witch.

Although this is just from personal experience, so take it with grain of salt.

...that's not because he's black, though. (and obv, you're overstating it a bit)

 

[SMBEffect]

I find it hard to say that people will automatically dissaprove of a African American or Non-caucasian president if they don't have an outstanding term. Obviously, people dissaproved of Bush, easily swinging a lot of favor towards the Liberals in the latest elections. The same holds true for McCain, who lost some typical red states and didn't make the election all that close. To say that the American people will not elect another Non-Caucasian president seems highly unlikely, unless Obama has a pretty awful term. Of course Obama did get votes for and against him due to his race, but that doesn't mean people vote for him based on his color all of the time.

 

[LordoftheMorning]

The sad truth is that anything Obama does, even if it doesn't have a bad end result, will be criticized relentlessly by the Republicans.

It's almost like it was a privelege for him to even be elected in the first place, and if he screws up just a little bit everyone will turn around and say "I TOLD YOU SO!"

I mean I don't necessarily agree with all of his political views, but good Lord, the kind of blind hate shown towards the man by conservatives is just disgusting.

Step 1. Remove "Obama", insert "Bush".
Step 2. Remove "Republicans", insert "Democrats".
Step 3. Remove "conservatives", insert "liberals".

No change.....

The past 3-4 years I've felt like democrats want us to lose the War in Iraq because then Bush would look like a moron. As long as they can do that, they're happy. Not only that, they have the bias of the media to help them smear us.

It really makes me sick that people even care about Obama's race. Honestly who the hell cares that he's "The first black pres. omg" or the "C-C-C-COMBO BREAKER!"? To me he's the 44/5th president (it's 44th right?) and nothing more. Obama didn't really have to confront a whole lot of racism to get into office. If he did, it was another kind of racism that I like to call "counter-racism". People love to hate on the white peeps nowadays. I've heard "Oh, you're white, you must be voting for McCain.", before. The fact that there is now all this celebration about "the first african-american president" also demonstrates this. Being white, I have inferior physical capabilities, no sense of rhythm, and I am just not as cool. When I argue against affirmative action, I am told "You're white, you wouldn't understand". Why can't I say the N-word, when an African-American can? And why am I not called "European-American" or some other P.C. garbage? That is racism in it's definition, unequal treatment based on race, and it's going the other way around today guys.

And no. Anyone who's not a total moron is going to look at Obama's mistakes and think "Why did we elect that man?", not "WHY DID WEE ELECT BLACK MAN!??!11 I don't know how you get up in the morning if you have such a pessimistic view on our population's level of ignorance.

 

[-Mars-]

People love to hate on the white peeps nowadays. I've heard "Oh, you're white, you must be voting for McCain.", before. The fact that there is now all this celebration about "the first african-american president" also demonstrates this. Being white, I have inferior physical capabilities, no sense of rhythm, and I am just not as cool. When I argue against affirmative action, I am told "You're white, you wouldn't understand". Why can't I say the N-word, when an African-American can? And why am I not called "European-American" or some other P.C. garbage? That is racism in it's definition, unequal treatment based on race, and it's going the other way around today guys.

Give me a f****** break. You deal with NONE of the things I have to put up with. Sure, America as a whole has moved forward and deals with racial issues better nowadays than in the past.......but it still exists. The whole "step into my shoes" argument applies here.

Getting your jumping abilities made fun of because of your skin color is nothing compared to being considered academically inferior off of a glance. Comparing your "examples" with the things us African-Americans have had to deal with for all of these years is completely ignorant and ludicrous.

Why can't you say the N-word? the same reason I can't say "Crac ker" or "We tback". Oh poor you getting your rhythm made fun of........it must be horrible.

 

[~ Gheb ~]

It won't be easy for obama that's for sure. As an european I can tell you that there's a strange attitude towards Obama over here. On the one hand there are lots of expectations but on the other hand there's also a lot of mistrust against him. It will be very critical when it comes to the war in Afghanistan. Most of us are glad that he'll probably put an end to the war in Iraq (hopefully) but the fact that Obama will focus on Afghanistan will be a painfull issue, since he'll prbably expect help from us europeans.

At least he seems to have some attributes that make him a worthy president but that's not enough unfortunately. He also has to be fully aware of what he's doing - constantly. The worlds watching him and despit him being popular not everybody trusts him as much as many americans do...

 

[LordoftheMorning]

Give me a f****** break. You deal with NONE of the things I have to put up with. Sure, America as a whole has moved forward and deals with racial issues better nowadays than in the past.......but it still exists. The whole "step into my shoes" argument applies here.

Getting your jumping abilities made fun of because of your skin color is nothing compared to being considered academically inferior off of a glance. Comparing your "examples" with the things us African-Americans have had to deal with for all of these years is completely ignorant and ludicrous.

Why can't you say the N-word? the same reason I can't say "Crac ker" or "We tback". Oh poor you getting your rhythm made fun of........it must be horrible.

This is the sort of reaction I feared I would get. All you have to do is break the stereotype. Academically inferior? Well, in my mind, I would make that association with anyone who doesn't use correct grammar and wears huge baggy clothing that advocates lust and greed, it doesn't matter what race they are. If you are not a person who does those things, I assume you are just as smart as anyone. I'm not saying these are good assumptions, mind you, but they are subconsciously made. By being unconscious to racism you empower yourself. I just play sports, and the piano, really well and I just prove these people wrong. There's no "SEE! I TOLD YOU SO!" in it, it's just "Oh.... He can do those things". There's something called "Victim Status". It's a psychological thing. People think that they are what people assume they are at first glance, and that it's bad. They get into the vein of thinking that they can't do anything about it, so all they will do is sit around and complain about it. This perpetuates the Stereotypes, because no one is making an effort to break them.

I think America has taken a wrong turn with it's "Diversity" celebrations, affirmative action, and the calling of minorities "____-American". All this will do is draw extra focus to the differences between races, instead of the similarities. It's really a half-baked idea. Words like the N-word, Cracker, or whatever, should be completely acceptable for anyone to say. It should be like calling someone "Brunette", or "Skinny". My point? The idea that race matters at all is a racist notion in itself, meaning that much of America is racist in that nation. It should be ignored, not in a hushed up way, but in a "no one cares" way. Really the only times race should come up is if someone is making a joke or someone is applying for a modeling agency or auditioning for a play. It should not be a formal issue, but a casual one. We need to move on. Why should we fear words? That's why all the "1st black president" "hype" irritates me.

I'm not contradicting my earlier post. I just wanted to point out that bad assumptions are made of all races. I'm sorry you have to deal with whatever you have to deal with, but telling me "I have to put up with more than you." isn't really an argument because I never claimed to have it worse than minorities do. Don't misunderstand me.

 

[RDK]

Remind me again, how are lust and greed bad things?

Viva la laissez-faire.

 

[LordoftheMorning]

Remind me again, how are lust and greed bad things?

Viva la laissez-faire.

Heheh. Capitalism is wonderful, and it runs on greed. This I know, and I agree with you completely. It makes me happy to see other people still have faith in the best economic system that is humanly possible, but greed without values like "Don't steal" and "Don't kill" destroys humanity. This also applies to drugs. Buying drugs is like investing in a company that kills and steals on a regular basis. It's that kind of greed I object to. Does that clear things up? It's not like you see "work hard, get a good job" on hip T-Shirts.

Lust doesn't fit into capitalism at all. It fits into STD's and unnecessary drama, though. :/