I am a sports fan and have seen many upsets. This brings me to the election next week. What if Obama loses. What will happen? There are so many people who are “heavily” invested in this politically season that a lost by Obama could be devastating. Could it happen. I think so. How will people handle it….I guess we will find out on Tuesday…
I am not sure if there is going to be a political season like this again in our lifetime (never say never). It is pitting families and friends against each other. What was shocking was recently I had a family member basically tell me that because I am a Christian I must take my ballot and mark “Republican” straight down the line. If I did not they would seriously question my Christianity.
There is some real funny stuff out there. It seem some of these British shows really have tapped into Jamaican culture through comedy.
The New York Times has an interested opinion article today titled “Rebranding the U.S. With Obama“. It is written by columnist Nicholas D. Kristof who cites Jamaica as a country where the majority race elected someone who is in the minority race. That would be Edward Seaga.
I don’t know if it is me but all the “right” leaning media seem to be using the picture of Colin Powell dancing with some rappers. Check it our here. It seems like they are trying to say “the black man is voting for black man”.
Many people in the Jamaican and Black American community are praising Colin Powell for his endorsement of Barack Obama. I smile at this because I remember on many occasions where I was “shouted” down by friends and family for defending Colin Powel. I have heard terms like “he is a traitor”, “he should have stood up to Bush”, “he calls Bush massa”, “He should have resigned early” etc. One of the reasons I defended Colin Powel was because he was a “moderate”. He was the voice of reason. I believe that Bush would have started the war in Iraq the day after 911 if it were not for Colin Powell. I think the articles and many books are now showing that he was one of the dissenting voices in the administration. He seemed to be the devils advocate that asked “what if”. The person that said your actions will have a consequence. You need someone like this is on every team. You need someone like this especially in the Republican Party that has ran away from its origins as the party that formed due to its opposition to slavery (I know this may shock many of you). I had other selfish reason for defending him. He was of Jamaican descent. He could have been an advocate for Jamaica and the Caribbean. Imagine having someone who had the ear of the US president who can “mention” the plight of Jamaicans in the Diaspora and at home. We never got this opportunity because many of us shunned him because he was a Republican. We let partisan politics cloud our judgment and we have lost out on the “perfect advocate for Jamaican” during the Bush years.
Today I read an interesting story on Politico.com about a “racist” who voted for Obama (absentee). What was interesting about the story was the comment “he isn’t like all of the other N******”. I remember working at a place where a older Jewish co-worker said to me “You Jamaicans are not like these black Americans”. I encourage you to visit the site and read some of the comments to this blog.
Having written a few stories about race recently, I’ve gotten a lot of e-mail on the topic, including some fascinating stories about how intensely personal the presidential election has become to some families. I so appreciate the e-mails, and a Virginia reader agreed to let me share her story about how the election is intersecting with a family struggle about race.
Anecdotes are, obviously, just that, and many of them point in the opposite direction from this particularly poignant one. But I appreciate getting them and hope to keep posting them for the next couple of weeks.
My reader, whose family hails from Martinsville, writes:
I was raised by my grandmother and am from a military family. Everyone is a Republican. I was the first to go to college and am finishing up my graduate degree. …
I am currently in a relationship with a black man in what John McCain would describe as the “real Virginia.” My family, after three years, are just now becoming comfortable, if you want to call it that, with my boyfriend. They claim that he isn’t like all of the other *****.
Before my grandmother died, she left me with a note that she didn’t want me to open until she died. I opened that letter. My grandmother – who has never referred to blacks appropriately – had [early] voted for Obama. She called him a “socialist” in her letter but she voted for him because she said that maybe the values that her parents instilled in her, which was to hate anyone that didn’t look like her, would not be passed on if people saw Obama in office.
It was especially touching given my current relationship, and I honestly believe that there are many others out there just like my grandmother. Take it for what it’s worth but I believe that Obama will not only win my home state of Virginia, and that includes doing well in the “real Virginia” as well as win this election.
