So Barack Obama is now the 'presumptive Presidential nominee'; talk about making history! I feel good that this country has gotten to the point where this could happen, but I'm worried about how much emphasis has been placed on race and gender from day one of this contest. No attention has really been paid to the race for the Presidential office as a whole, it's all been about 'the white woman and the black man'. If we're really about disregarding those issues, (especially race) why has there been so much talk about it? Why have so many people based their decision on who to vote for on the gender or race of the candidates? Is the fact that Hilary Clinton is a white woman going to make her any better equipped to run the White House? Is the fact that Barack Obama is a black man going to make him any better at deciding how to get out of Iraq? Neither a white woman or a black man is automatically better for the position based on their gender or their race, why is so difficult for people to understand that? The only thing this division is going to do is hand the Oval Office to the Republicans, all neatly gift-wrapped and tied with a huge bow. People still have not realized that deciding not to vote for Obama because he's not Clinton is only going to hurt us; it's going to give us another 4 years minimum of a Bush White House. With the death toll we've already suffered in Iraq, can we really stand to not end this war? With the way houses are being foreclosed on, can we really stand to go through the McCain plan for helping those who've lost or are in danger of losing their homes? We need to stop looking at the gender and the race of the candidates and start looking at just what they're planning to do to/for this country.
I'm glad we've finally gotten a Democratic nominee; I just hope that we haven't chosen him because of our pride in his color rather than for an honest belief in his plans and policies.
2 comments:
Really what it comes down to is that the media needs to sell advertising. To do that, they need viewers/readers/listeners that aren't very bright and who will be easily influenced by stupid advertising (and don't know how to skip over commercials with a DVR).
While intelligent people such as yourself know that race and gender should be a non-issue, the media invents controversy tabloid-style in order to generate the above mentioned ratings.
At one time (1950s - 1970s), people were drawn to quality journalism, so that's what the media provided.
Today, most people are drawn to mindless drama, even if it's not true. People don't care if it's true. They only care if someone did something naughty or if there is a way to show that someone is "less than" they are.
Similarly, in so many institutions in America, from education to the workplace to the places of worship, people are discouraged from thinking for themselves. They are instead encouraged to just follow along and not to ask questions.
I hope that our time as a nation has come to make intelligent decisions based on who is the best candidate, rather than who is what color/gender..alas hope doesn't make it so...
Lori
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