ARE WE REALLY READY??? ( Archived) (5)

I have been interested in these forums on Obama and his bid for the Democratic nomination. I have tried to read and understand all of them and the one thing I want to know, ARE WE AS AMERICANS REALLY READY FOR A BLACK PRESIDENT???? I know there are a great many whites and Hispanics and Asians who are in Obama's corner, but I see there are just as many in Hillary's corner as well.
I read a newspaper column yesterday that was interesting. The author made some good points about the whole race thing. In the article he said "Thank God it's winter and no one is outside because there would be more than angry words on the street" Was he refering to race riots? I wish we were ready for this kind of change, but I don't think we are.
Hillary Clinton has worked hard against segregation and at one time, she was supported by a lot of influential blacks, but that has changed. Blacks who once eagerly took Clinton's phone calls, are now magically unavailable. I think Hillary Clinton has earned the right to never trust the word of another black person.
As I have said before, I am not prejudiced, I hate bigotry, and I believe every human being has the right to live as freely as the next person. At this point, I have no idea who should win the nomination. I just hope and pray it comes to a peaceful conclusion.

Egads... this is deja vu.
I swear I just had this conversation.

Potentially, all it would take to set off a race war would be some fanatical redneck with a gun collection & a desire to become a martyr. Having lived in the south for sooooo many years, not just in one little city here or there but every major black city on the East coast, I totally see how it could happen. There are too many issues still being used as fuel to blow up the "black issue". One spark can cause more damage than good.
I have too many wonderful black friends to want to see them torn apart by a race war within their own communities, let alone mine.
It's very easy for people who are NOT constantly exposed to the inner cities & the poor black areas to sweep this into a "mildly annoying at best" box... but there is an unseen tension causing some nasty mentality to be perpetuated from parent to child... and it IS race related. I point out those areas because they are the most easily set off & prone to irrational behaviors. Try to recall the city of New Orleans when government housing demolition was being discussed. The building could not hold the masses of bodies that were intent on entering the hearing. Safety codes required the building's occupancy be limited so fences had to be closed around the building to protect the hearing & people within it. A nasty street battle broke out as a result of people becoming so irrational, so hateful... all blaming it on race!

It only takes a small spark to ignite a barrel of gasoline.
Who do YOU want carrying those matches?
Ugly choice, either way.

I'm not black, nor am I prejudiced. The reason I support Obama is he represents possible and true change in this country. A 21st Century agenda, not wishful nostalgia for Reaganism or Clintonism or Bushism. That's 20th Century, and it's a place we can never regain. Wishing aint going to make it happen. Whatever we do, we have to do things different.

All the rhetoric I hear from camps other than Obama are about delusional wishful thinking. The dollar is the lowest its ever been. We need a new paradigm, or any sort of hegemony we hold in this world wil become nothing but empty posturing.

As nice as that though is GB,
I tend to stand by my personal rule:

I don't vote for the lesser of two(or more) evils.
I'd rather write my cat's name in as who I vote for, just to keep the vote from going to the wrong person.
...but I'm just stubborn like that.