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OpEdNews Op Eds    H1'ed 11/17/08

Any racist targeting President-elect Barack Obama should be classified a terrorist

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Message Mary MacElveen
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I have addressed racism as it pertains to ‘our’ incoming president, President-elect Barack Obama in the past and again, I feel the need to speak out once more especially after reading, Obama election spurs race crimes around country.  The examples of this racism are very disturbing and do not show to the world that we are that “Shining city upon the hill” that the late President Ronald Reagan claimed our country was and is.  In fact these examples of racism show the complete opposite.

 

It was this one opinion expressed within the piece that really spoke out to me, where a man stated, "a large subset of white people in this country who feel that they are losing everything they know, that the country their forefathers built has somehow been stolen from them." If I could sit down with this person, I would love to ask exactly how the election of Barack Obama has stolen anything from us as a nation and him specifically.  To this person a large percentage of whites came out in support of Barack Obama and voted him into office.  Take that!

 

If anything, it shows to the world that a boy from the south-side of Chicago could grow up to be the world’s leader.  That should not be feared but celebrated.  Our forefathers penned an outstanding document titled, The Declaration of Independence whose first three words are, “We the people” meaning we are all equal.  At the time this document was penned this country had slaves but it took a long time for America to realize that even decedents of slaves could go onto become President of the United States of America.  Again that is something to herald.

 

Personally, as I look upon President-elect Barack Obama, I do not see a black man, but a man and a man so ready to lead this nation.  In an interview that took place on Sunday’s “Sixty Minutes”, I saw a man with intelligence mixed with humor.  He paid tribute to his mother in-law, Marian Robinson as she has looked after his two children as their mother Michelle has campaigned for Obama.  When Steve Kroft asked if Marian Robinson would be moving in with them at the White House, he tried to turn it into a humor on in-laws and to which Obama quipped back if Kroft has had problems with his mother in-law.  It was funny to see that exchange and it showed President-elect Barack Obama’s humorous side.

 

I do believe that this racism shows to the world our soft underbelly where any number of extremists can divide us.  So, when a racist man by the name of Grant Griffin from Georgia expressed, "I believe our nation is ruined and has been for several decades and the election of Obama is merely the culmination of the change." If the attacks that befell this nation on September 11th, 2001 did not ruin us, but united us against terrorism, his assertion is completely false.  I again, would love to ask him how our nation has been ruined for decades?  I just do not see it as such.

 

At times I see racists as people who have had breaks with reality.  Also those who wear the robes of the KKK (Ku Klux Klan) wear these silly hoods where some hide their faces.  At least show your face to back up your opinions instead of acting cowardly.  If one did not know the history of this hateful clan, the term ‘Grand Dragon’ could be seen as a term used in that game, “Dungeons and Dragons”

 

Speaking of terrorism as our nation has waged a war on it, exhibiting nooses and using derogatory terms against any race is also terrorism.

 

This past week, racism and hate touched my community; Long Island where a man from Ecuador; Marcelo Lucero was brutally attacked and killed by a group a teen-age thugs as a result of their racial hatred.  In response to her son’s death where one of these teens stabbed him in the chest, Lucero’s mother said, "He wasn't some kind of animal to kill," she went onto say, "We are human beings." and that is what we should all take away from racism and those looking to harm others is that we are all human beings.  The ones who so brutally ended Lucero’s life as he faced such terrorism before his life was snuffed out are the animals.  Now they are in cages being treated like ones.

 

Being a political wonk here, I also get caught up in the family dynamics of the incoming First Family.  President-elect Barack Obama and his wife Michelle have only shown the world what good parenting is about when we have seen their daughters Malia and Sasha on television.  I would love for racists to look within their hearts if they have one: How could they wish harm upon these darling girl’s father.  Yes, he is a father like many others out there who is doing right by his family as being their provider.  Michelle Obama calls herself “Mom in Chief” and to look upon these girls, she is doing one heck of a job.  They have asked their dad for a dog and what can be more normal than any child asking for one.

 

We have heard for years where parents are not stepping up to the plate when it comes to the care of their children: The morning after President-elect Barack Obama won the election, he took his daughter’s to school.  The day that he and his wife Michelle traveled to Washington, D.C. to meet President Bush and his wife Laura, both attended a parent teacher conference at their daughter’s school.  Exactly why should Americans fear this man and hate him?  I just do not get it.

 

When one reads where a child as young as 9 states that she wishes that President-elect Obama is assassinated, I fault the parents for the spread of that hate.  Those are the parents that are not stepping up to the plate by teaching their children this form of hate.

 

As angry as I was with the passage of both Patriot Acts, when it comes to examples of this racial hate against our 44th President of the United States, I can now see some merit in those acts should people try and carry any assassination attempt out.  He is my new president and it angers me as one who supported him and voted for him that one of my fellow citizens would try and kill him.

 

My suggestion to the Secret Service as they investigate these actions is to see if there are any parts of the Patriot Acts that can be used as their weapon to address these incidents.  We as a country have so many important problems to solve such as the economy, national security, states that are feeling budget shortfalls, and other critical problems.  Once again, California is dealing with raging fires that have destroyed close to 1,000 homes and it is up to these racists to show their fellow citizens a little compassion by shutting up.

 

Lastly, President-elect Barack Obama is my new incoming president, and I stand shoulder-to-shoulder with him as he tries to tackle the myriad of problems that we all are facing and will face.  As some stated when President Bush came into power that they would leave this country, perhaps it is time for racists to do the same.  We the American people have had a belly-full.

 

Author’s email address is, xmjmac@optonline.net

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Mary MacElveen Social Media Pages: Facebook page url on login Profile not filled in       Twitter page url on login Profile not filled in       Linkedin page url on login Profile not filled in       Instagram page url on login Profile not filled in

I am a writer who currently writes pieces for my own blog http://www.mary-macelveen.blogspot.com I have been published by Buzzflash.com, TheLiberalPatriot.org and MikeHersh.com. I was a guest on the Jay Diamond Radio Show on WRKO in Boston and have (more...)
 
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