Wednesday, September 16, 2009
Seeing Obama
(1)
Popped open the first beer at 1457L. Re-reading last week, I should correct (4) Shiro the Rat: she actually chewed off the hard skin on my heels only, and she did a really great job.
I also got around to watching all of The Prez's speech on dvd. Excellent job. And then there was the idiot from South Carolina. What an ass. Now, I'm not exactly an expert on South Carolinians - I was born and raised in Charleston, then escaped into the USAF when I was nineteen - but I remember the 'mindset.' That was back in the days of 'Black' and 'White' public facilities. Then came the long transition from segregation to integration, a process which is still with us and will be for some time. Wilson isn't the only example, of course: The Birthers, and more recently the Tea Party Movement come to mind. (Finally! Buzzing slightly on beer #2 at 1545L. Writing this sober is... such... a... drag! Kootch is eating alone in her room, as I am 'busy' at the moment.)
Is it 'Racism?' I suppose there is an element of racism in the mix, along with tribalism (is there such a thing as, 'family-ism?' ( apparently yes)) and other elements, especially ignorance and fear, not to mention unconscious circumcision memories which tend to produce an existential fear of restraint or sudden change...
I must admit that I am not bothered by the fact that Obama is 'half and half.' Indeed, I don't even think of Obama as a 'black man.' He is a mixed race man. Very common in America. I see Obama as half white, not half black (whatever that means). I see a smart, well-educated, articulate young politician raised by a white family in America. Unusual. Most of all, I see Obama as the long-awaited Democratic Messiah who saved us all from the evil George W Bush and his Neo-Con Cronies.
Popped open the first beer at 1457L. Re-reading last week, I should correct (4) Shiro the Rat: she actually chewed off the hard skin on my heels only, and she did a really great job.
I also got around to watching all of The Prez's speech on dvd. Excellent job. And then there was the idiot from South Carolina. What an ass. Now, I'm not exactly an expert on South Carolinians - I was born and raised in Charleston, then escaped into the USAF when I was nineteen - but I remember the 'mindset.' That was back in the days of 'Black' and 'White' public facilities. Then came the long transition from segregation to integration, a process which is still with us and will be for some time. Wilson isn't the only example, of course: The Birthers, and more recently the Tea Party Movement come to mind. (Finally! Buzzing slightly on beer #2 at 1545L. Writing this sober is... such... a... drag! Kootch is eating alone in her room, as I am 'busy' at the moment.)
Is it 'Racism?' I suppose there is an element of racism in the mix, along with tribalism (is there such a thing as, 'family-ism?' ( apparently yes)) and other elements, especially ignorance and fear, not to mention unconscious circumcision memories which tend to produce an existential fear of restraint or sudden change...
I must admit that I am not bothered by the fact that Obama is 'half and half.' Indeed, I don't even think of Obama as a 'black man.' He is a mixed race man. Very common in America. I see Obama as half white, not half black (whatever that means). I see a smart, well-educated, articulate young politician raised by a white family in America. Unusual. Most of all, I see Obama as the long-awaited Democratic Messiah who saved us all from the evil George W Bush and his Neo-Con Cronies.
