I have received several responses to my previous post about the growing unrest about difference in America. I wanted to thank everybody who has taken the time to respond to me personally.
But I just received a note from someone and thought I might share it with you all, and comment....
To preface, the author, a self-proclaimed "redneck", claims to have defended the Obama candidacy on several occasions, but at the same time, may write in the name of an imaginary cartoon character on election day. He followed that up with this short note:
"Win or lose, the candidacy of Barack Obama is God's way of telling white folks that they royally screwed-up!
At the same time, I have told black students that if they want to get some where in life, they need to pay close attention to Obama's ability to articulate and communicate.
Moreover, having taught a few courses on modern presidents, it is quite possible that Obama is the most forward thinking presidential candidate since John Kennedy."
*sigh... where to begin:
Point #1: A person's "candidacy" should not be associated with a divine mission or intention.
It can not be predetermined, or else we abolish all notion that the Lord gives us free will. Also, using the Lord's will as a justification for moral judgement is as sinful and contradictory to my personal Christian beliefs as I could possibly even begin to express.
In this country we need to start believing again in the value of work for work's sake; that service and work bring dignity. And that we should weigh a person's value on their willingness to contribute to society, and foster unity, understanding, and consensus among our citizens, despite their disagreements on even fundamental issues. Because we should be a UNITED nation, and stop being a really really big group of individual demographics fumbling over ourselves.
Point #2: The inherent racism of your statement to black students to pay attention to Mr. Obama's articulation is at the core of the hatred in this country.
I agree that his talent for speaking is extremely admirable. But why should it not be something that ALL children - black, white, asian, hispanic, etc. - aspire to? Why shouldn't every single adult even be telling themselves that they might be able to approach public-speaking more effectively?
Why must we continue to accentuate and highlight the differences among ourselves? Again, this does not breed unity, except among the most clique-ish of groups. This instead breeds hypersensitivity, extaneous political correctness, and mundane frivolity that often gets in the way of actually making a difference in the lives of the citizens of this nation.
I would also add that rather than his communication skills, I find it strange that you do not reinforce such important aspirations as higher education, ambition, professionalism, and of course, civil service. I definitely agree that commnicating well opens up avenues otherwise shut in life, but even lowsy communicators can achieve success through education if their talents lie elsewhere, or if their dedication and hard work allow them to contribute positively to our society in other ways.
Point #3: As to Mr. Obama being "forward thinking", there is nothing "forward thinking" about your statements.
I think you cannot deny the fact that he has managed to achieve an enormous amount of success in a relatively short amount of time.
And again, either he has been fortunate enough to surround himself with very talented and driven people that are extremely beneficial and contributory to that success.
Lastly, his talent does reflect in his ability to maintain an enormous amount of control and composure of his campaign. This is especially impressive in the context of his relative inexperience, and the total lack of coherence of the opposing campaign.
However, I again think that what you may consider "forward thinking" is not necessarily "forward" but rather correct in most cases. And by correct, I do not mean based upon my personal beliefs, but what is feasible and possible for the country.
And often times, by threading the needle regarding very particular (social) issues, the supposed leftist and extremist manages to convince some more conservative folks that he's the way to go. Is that because he's 'palling around with right-wing extremists, flip-flopping, a sleeper-cell republican, or anything like that? No. It's because his position in that case is probably the correct one by the common-sense, ethical, and/or constitutional standards, while at the same time not being clouded by fundamentalist point-of-views.
This country does not think. This country does not want to be together, united, for its own common good anymore. We've lost our way, and would rather get to know a sitcom character than our own neighbor. So now, an educated man, with common-sense ideas, and a stright-forward approach steps up, in a calm, cool, and collected way to state those ideas to the citizenry, and you call him "forward thinking." If that's your idea of "forward thinking", well then I guess this country is looking backwards.
So I guess I was right to be scared sh!tless.
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