I did not vote for Barack Obama. That is no surprise to anyone who knows me, yet they also know that if Obama had more conservative ideologies about the role of government in our lives, he would have had my vote. Heck, I would have campaigned for him. In other words, race was never, ever a factor in choosing a candidate. His liberal and sparse voting record, his lack of executive experience, the still "unknowns" about his past, his views on the right to life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness for all, his controversial opinions on the Constitution, and his desire to weaken our nuclear defense convinced me that Barack was not the candidate I could support.
I wonder how many other voters--for either candidate--allowed race to be a factor in choosing their candidate? I'm sure there were white bigots who would never vote for a black man. I am also sure there were black Americans who voted for Obama simply because they shared a similar skin color, even though they disagreed with him on most of the issues. Racism appears in various forms, and choosing a candidate based on their race is racism, make no mistake about it.
Whites nationally preferred McCain by 12 percentage points, while 96 percent of black voters backed Obama and 3 percent backed McCain, according to exit polls. (Eleven percent of blacks voted for Bush in ’04.) If only 96% of whites had voted for McCain, I would say that black Americans would have a reason to be up-in-arms. (This is a double-standard which troubles me, but that's a discussion for another day.) Did only 3% of African Americans agree with some of McCain's positions, or did they simply want a black man to be elected president?
Regardless of why Obama was overwhelmingly elected by black Americans, it took more than just their vote for him to become our next president. And while I wasn’t one of the white voters who helped him achieve this historical feat, I can honestly say that I am more than pleased with what his election intimates regarding race relations in this country. We have a black president! It wasn’t too long ago in our history that Americans would not have thought this was possible, and his election shows how far whites have come in realizing that race should not be a factor in anything. Period. I was moved to tears right along with other blacks as I have watched them in interviews and news coverage, truly realizing what this election meant for them in particular. I am hopeful that maybe, just maybe, they now feel as American as I do, like they have a part of the pie—an equal share.
And now that we have a black president chosen by many white Americans, the race card—along with affirmative action, the NAACP, the Rainbow Coalition and any other organization that exists “for black people only”--can and should be retired. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton should retire, too! During the campaign, it seemed that even white reporters, news anchors, pundits, etc. walked on eggshells with certain questions or comments for fear of being deemed racist. No more political correctness, please. Can we all just be Americans? I’d even like to drop the titles which precede the word “American”…white, black, Native, Irish, Italian, Jewish, etc. are generally needless adjectives when it comes to labeling Americans. We live in a melting pot of races and cultures which have blended to become one people—American.
In a recent interview with Oprah Winfrey, Will Smith discussed his reaction to Obama’s election. He was clearly moved, as was I, as he spoke about what the election meant for this entire country. He made this statement, which really helped me better understand how many black Americans must have felt as citizens of this country:
"The history of African Americans is such that we want to be a part of America, but we’ve been rejected so much it’s hard to take the ownership and take responsibility for ourselves in this country.” Then, he added this bit of wisdom, and I couldn’t have agreed more. “And it was like at that second, at that moment, all of our excuses were gone."
Amen, brother.
