United We Stand

It’s always sad when we’re prejudged on the basis of race, creed, and gender at work, school, or in politics. No one wants to fill a perceived void to make upper management or the front office feel as if a good deed has been done. The opposite would be a homogenized school or workplace devoid of variety: voices, styles, ethnicities, and faces.

We covet who and what we find familiar. Blacks, browns, yellows, and olive tones tend to seek out each other, whereas a majority of whites, and those misguided souls who think they’re white, aspire to be white, or are actually successful in passing for white, congregate and try to isolate themselves from everyone else.

We are not born prejudiced or racist, but are taught to be by our parents and family. Granny Gums was famous her southernisms. On the subject of racism, she’d say something along the lines of, “What if you were blind and didn’t know I was Black, and only able to judge me on how I treated you?” This doesn’t hearken back to America’s severe racial divide, but makes sense in the context of black domestics keeping house and raising white kids.

Why do we fear other people? I don’t want to take anything from anyone else. I only want what’s fair as I pursue my happiness. However, that’s probably not the consensus in America and worldwide.

America’s in the midst of making history, and yet the pervasive woes are skin color, religion, and creed. This country was built on the backs of African slaves, indentured Japanese servants, and various Native American tribes who were cheated out of their land.

The distant history is still present in too many minds, which clouds recent developments, improvements, compromises, and inroads within the last fifty years. These states are not united, and the hang-ups that divide us seem insurmountable.

Twenty-two days aren’t enough overcome, coddle, and cajole deep-seated hatreds and institutionalized racism. Unfortunately this country isn’t ready, willing, or able to move beyond its turbulent past and embrace a new beginning.

Is it impossible to elect a biracial African American male as president of America? No, it would take a vision that many refuse to consider and share.

Hear my battle cry, and vote for Barack Obama on November 4th!

Hear me roar if you fear that change won’t happen – it takes you, me, my brothers, family and friends registering, and actually casting our votes!

We can change this country together if we want, but what will that cost each of us? I’d rather not wait until November 5th to discover that fear, rumor, lies, and insecurities were reasons Barack Obama wasn’t elected President. It’s within our hands to begin restoring this country so that all people who call this land home can come together as one.