Wish I Were Voting For Obama

The idea that racism ended with the civil rights movement is absurd.

Don’t believe me? Oh come on, just look at the facts. Black men have the lowest average life expectancy in the US. One of every two Black teenage girls carries a sexually transmitted disease. Employers are more likely to hire a convicted White than a Black applicant with no criminal record. Finally, there are more black men in federal prisons than institutes of higher education.

Might as well face it. While you as an individual may not be prejudiced, as a community we are. And this is precisely why I wish I were voting for Obama. A victory by Obama would be an authoritative statement that Americans actually support our constitution’s claim that “all men are created equal.” Till now those words have simply been an empty claim used to justify aggressive foreign policies. A President Obama would definitively prove to the millions of doubters that America actually is the land of opportunity.

Additionally, if Senator Obama wins, millions of sequestered Whites will be forced out of their comfort zones. Even if it’s just the nightly news, White America will finally interact with Black America on a regular basis. Might this relationship convince those Whites who are “scared of Obama” that they have nothing to fear? White America doesn’t realize it’s racist because it doesn’t interact with the other race. This separation reinforces the interracial ignorance, breeding fear. In President Obama White America will get to know a Black man. This knowledge will decrease their ignorance, decrease their fear, and decrease their prejudice.

If Obama wins the presidency Blacks will have another visible example of what it means to be Black and professionally successful. Think about it. What other examples are there? The short list of household names includes Oprah Winfrey, Robert Johnson, Condelezza Rice, and Colin Powell. The shortness of that short list is a disgrace to our equal opportunity society. President Obama will change that. If Obama can win, millions of Black adolescents will have a role model beyond athletics and entertainment. Might this example convince a few kids that college isn’t just for Whites?

In short, America is a racist society. There’s no denying it. Pollsters estimate that six percent of Obama supporters will switch to McCain just because he’s White. Maybe I’ll switch to Obama just because he’s Black.


[As a follow-up to this Thomas L. Friedman recently wrote a compelling piece about the benefits of an Obama Administration, if interested here's the link: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/05/opinion/05friedman.html?pagewanted=1&_r=1&ei=5070&emc=eta1 ]