November 16, 2008
Where Are We Going?
by Christina Wantz Fixemer
I saw a troubling article tonight. It’s about the surge of hate crimes since the presidential election on November 4, 2008. First, here’s a link to said article:
http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20081116/ap_on_re_us/obama_racial
“Cross burnings. Schoolchildren chanting "Assassinate Obama." Black figures hung from nooses. Racial epithets scrawled on homes and cars.
“Incidents around the country referring to President-elect Barack Obama are dampening the postelection glow of racial progress and harmony, highlighting the stubborn racism that remains in America...”
By JESSE WASHINGTON, AP National Writer
This was how the article began. Let me reiterate: This has been occurring since November 4, 2008. The new millennium. The “enlightened” twenty-first century. Today. Even as I type this, I am thinking of the list of people to which I intend to send this letter, not to mention the number of people who may see it on my website. It breaks my heart to know that some of these individuals will think I am the inane fool for being upset about this wave of viciousness.
There are many reasons to vote for a political candidate: the economy, the war in Iraq, abortion, national health care. But to vote for or against the color of one’s skin? To punish other people for exercising the American right to vote for someone who looks different? This is not American. It is not American to go after individuals who don’t see the world within narrowly defined parameters. Yet these people claim to be patriots, to be true Americans. They are not.
I don’t agree with other people on some major issues, but I do not begrudge their right to vote according to those beliefs. I am proud to live in a country whose laws grant that right to its citizens. Countless soldiers have died so that we have that right. Isn’t that what we keep saying? Or is it only true until we don’t agree with what’s happened?
Every single hate monger, be they white, black, or purple with yellow dots, should be introduced to a hero who would lay down his or her life to protect that racist. I would rush in to save someone, but those are empty words because I am white, and those white racists would expect that of a “fellow” white person. Would these racists turn down a second chance at life just because someone wasn’t “good enough” to save them? Would they give up wearing cotton clothing because the cotton gin was invented by Eli Whitney? Would they give up some beautiful poetry because it was penned by Maya Angelou?
Maybe they would. I’ve known people very close to me who were, at their core, racist. When someone said “That man shouldn’t be a state trooper because he’s black,” I pointed out their family friend who is as black as an American can be, and a state trooper at that. This person didn’t think twice about telling me “that’s different—he’s a friend and we know him.” Yet this individual could not accept that this stranger they were decrying might have people who knew he was a good person and friend. That he may have saved precious lives by putting his life in danger. That he might be the better person.
I am further amazed at how people can claim to be faithful Christians, Jews, Muslims, or whatever religion, and still look down upon their diverse neighbors as inferior. How dare they? For those who believe in a Supreme Deity who teaches to treat others with love, hating others for any reason is a direct contradiction to their religions. For those who “don’t hate” others because God said not to, but persist in placing themselves above people of differing races and beliefs, then this, too, is against their religions.
If you’re going to disrespect someone, do it because they’ve made choices that you believe to be wrong. Disrespect someone for hurting other people. If you must hate anyone, hate the people who would kill or otherwise harm others in the name of religion. Best of all, don’t hate. Don’t judge. Let go of that angry knot that keeps you from moving on in your life. It’s poison. If you want a good life, treat other people well. No matter what religion you do or do not claim, that is the way to go.
The next time you eat a peanut butter sandwich, thank George Washington Carver. When you put on a shoe, thank Jan Ernst Matzeliger. Thank Lewis Latimer for the carbon filaments that help make your light bulbs work. The next time a loved one lives thanks to a pacemaker, you better be glad that Otis Boykin was damned good at electronics. ( http://teacher.scholastic.com/activities/bhistory/inventors/index.htm ) Need I go on?
It’s 2008. Science has proven that people of all races are… human. No one person is born better than another. It is what we do with our lives that makes the difference, not the color of our skin.
August 2008
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