…exercising my constitutionally guaranteed write to
participate in the process and practice of democracy as we have come to know
it. I almost got arrested.
I am a fervent believer in fulfilling my duty as a citizen
of this great nation, and in the beauty and elegance of the principle that my
beliefs, opinions, and feelings are important to the rest of the people in
this, the greatest of democracies. Well,
at least until this last Friday when I went to vote. I did not take into account that numbers of
those choosing to follow my plan and get their ballot in early. I ended up on the fifth floor of a county
annex building standing in a rather long line
In front of me were a group of ladies listening to one detailing
her family trip to Italy for vacation. Their
focus was on their conversation and not the flow of movement of the line. This caused a large number of folks having
their day lengthened significantly and, to tell the truth, became quite
irritating. This irritation was
unfortunate but acceptable in that, regardless of time, these ladies were
exercising their citizenry even in the face of their mundane and semi-selfish
conversation.
After a while I decided to turn to see how far back the line
stretched and encountered a young man (25-35, that is young to this advanced
aged author), dressed in a shirt and tie, who looked at me and promptly asked, “I
wonder how many of these fools are going to vote for that fucking nigger?”
My initial reaction was disbelief. Surely he did not say that. That kind of speech is rooted in a past of
ignorance, bigotry and hate. It did not
seem as if this kind of atrocity could be perpetrated by one as young as this
man was, and certainly not in this day and age.
Regardless of the outwardly overwhelming and outrageous stupidity of the
question, I found myself obliged to reply.
I told him that if he did not shut the fuck up, there would
be two ballots for this election that would never get the opportunity to be
counted.
Regarding the outrageous stupidity of the situation, the
question certainly deserved a response. However,
the reality of this selfsame situation was that it would have been an absolute absurdity
to think that I was physically capable of delivering the sound thrashing that
this idiot deserved. I must thank the
powers that I do not understand in my life that this adversary chose to hold
further comment and go back to playing with his iPhone.
The other side of this vehement reaction to what was said
came in my latter realization that, no matter how I felt, this person has the
constitutional right to ask that and any other question he so chooses. That right was one of the reasons we were
even standing in the fucking line in the first place!
I take to task, from time to time, whether or not the
Founding Fathers did us a service or disservice by fighting and ensuring us the
rights we have. It is not the words he
used that were offensive as the feeling and belief he was attempting to convey. I do not like that we have the right to
hate. It goes against my spiritual
beliefs, my political beliefs, and my moral beliefs.
The God of my understanding commanded me to love my fellow
man, and he supported this commandment by not hating the people who tortured
and killed him in a horrible and painful manner.
My political beliefs stem for an abiding love and acceptance
of those ideals I take issue with our Founding Fathers giving us in the first
place. Until, that is, I remember verbiage
stating this thing known as “inalienable rights.” It gives me little relief to stand on
principle and write the incident off as the practicing of an undisputable entitlement
of citizenry in America. It gives me
even less relief to know that I have not the right to tell him he is wrong by
way of forcible action. Great and good
ideals are not always the standards by which one might live when the emotions and
beliefs contrast with the ideals. Yet, I
defy anyone to find a better way to do it.
What we have is monumentally better than what we could have if we do not
defend our rights.
My moral beliefs are probably the area that this
conversation is best left to. As a
child, I learned the difference in right and wrong at the knee of two women who
were and are giants in this world of moral decay. It was never a question in my household about
the difference between people. It was
never even a consideration to shun someone for having different colored skin,
lifestyle, or ethnicity. The word “nigger”
was vehemently not allowed and harsh consequences were meted out for non-adherence
to this rule. Hating people, for any reason, was the absolute last thing that
ever came to my mind until I grew old enough to go out into the world and learn
firsthand what hate was all about.
I have been more charged in this election than in previous
years. I believe Barack Obama is the
person who needs to lead this country and I am a passionate supporter. A large part of this is due to the progress
his administration has made in working out problems faced by America. The other part is directly related to what
that young man asked me in that line last week.
Never have I experienced the level of hate that is being perpetrated on
this President, and I believe it is because he is black. America is blind in many ways, and cares
little about the strides that the African American culture in our country have
accomplished to set aside and live beyond the atrocities of slavery and prejudice. Barack Obama has indeed set that to the side
and worked exhaustively and diligently to make this country the type of country
many of his opponents have called for…a place to raise our children.
Emotions aside, I challenge anyone to tell me where it
became acceptable to hate anyone. Many of
the opponents to this President’s election have called for “Good Christian
Principles” to defeat him. They do not
care how it gets done, be it by falsifying information about him, or
challenging his citizenship, to questioning how he paid for his education. In all these areas President Obama has been
forthright and cooperative. Why did they
not ask these questions of the last guy who was president or, anybody else that
has run and been elected President of the United States? Unequivocally it is because they were white,
and he is not.
I remember an episode of the television show “Star Trek”
where the ship was threatened by two aliens.
These creatures resembled humans except that their skin was divided into
one side that was bright white and the other night black. In the course of
dealing with the danger to the ship, Captain Kirk asked why they were even at
war. The main antagonist shared that his
opponent was not the same color as he. When
challenged as to the fact that they looked exactly the same, the answer turned
out to be that the opponent was not white on the right side of his body like
the antagonist and, as such, was to be punished. The episode ended when they arrived at the home
planet of the beings to find the entire civilization destroyed due to the war
started based on what side of a person’s body was white and which was black.
Barack Obama is half white and half black. Unfortunately, for some, he is not white on
the right side.
I leave this conversation here by stating my feelings as
opposed to fact or beliefs. If you do
not think a candidate should be elected, that is your right. If you do it because you hate the fact that
he is not the same color as you…Fuck You!
Peace
