Ha.
Got your attention with that one?
So...er, um...guess we're not supposed to even talk about this stuff. But yeah...
This election is about a lot of things. The economy. The war. The future.
But it is also about race. There, we said it. It was almost about gender. Don't give up Hillary! Palin is making you look better and better every day. Your time will come.
We in the U.S.A. like to pretend that so many things have changed. And to be fair, a lot of things have. But damn this is a racist country.
All the, "...he'll be shot..." or, "...I just don't think when people close the curtain and go to vote, that they will vote for a black...uh...African American..." talk really got us thinking about "America" in 2008.
First of all. Sad as it is that is necessary to say this; shouldn't it really be about who the best person for the job is? "bleeding heart liberal", says our mom's voice in our head.
Second, and this is sort of off to the side, but is "African American" really the term we settled on? Do we need a term for people? Would Dr. King or Malcom want to be called African American? or just American? Light skinned people aren't called "Northern European Americans". Sigh...even now...here come the thoughts: "should we be typing this?" "are we being sensitive or correct enough?"
Third, leading up to the VP debate there has been talk that the moderator may not be able to be objective. You know, because she is...uh...of a darker skin tone. F*ck, this is getting uncomfortable! WHY?!? Anyway...We've watched many many debates in our time, and no one ever questioned a light skinned moderator's objectivity because the candidates were light skinned. "oh, but she is writing a book about African Americans in politics, and Obama is in the title." So what? She's not able to fairly moderate a debate because...huh?!?
Watch Chris Rock's new HBO special. True comedy is riddled with truths. In a very interesting twist, the show is edited together from shows held in NYC, London, and Johannesburg. It is interesting to see the reactions to his jokes in very different countries. The "white" people sitting in the legendary Apollo Theater seemed to laugh just a little more nervously than their counterparts in other countries. I won't attempt to re-tell any jokes. Somehow it just doesn't feel like it would be OK; or as funny. Sigh. Just watch it. It is funny as hell. Somehow he forces you to look at your own ass and then makes you laugh about it. He doesn't stop with racism either, he gets into gender issues pretty deep also. It's a date movie!
Malcom had an insight and a beautiful anger. Dr. King had a way with words and a dream.
We in no way attempt to compare ourselves to these historical heavy weights. But we too have a dream. That someday we'll be free to love and hate each other...to marry and divorce each other...to help and hurt each other...to have beautiful and ugly children together...to look at two children playing together and not marvel at a "black" and "white" child playing together...but just see two kids playing together so we can concentrate on more important things; like keeping women in their place. JUST KIDDING. ha ha? Ha?
Then we could dream about cooler, more important things. Like legalizing...well, that's another post isn't it?
-the Nixons
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