Log In | RegisterCRIS GUHMAN 
If ignorance is bliss, why aren't there more happy people in the world?
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Member Since: 10/2008Last Seen: 5/28/2009
Member Since: 10/2008Last Seen: 5/28/2009
23 Comments
PrintFor some people, Obama would be perfect, if only he was not black!
News Type: Opinion — Wed May 27, 2009 5:00 PM EDT
Live Poll
Do you believe some people might dislike or have some negative views of President Obama just because of his skin color?
| Yes | |
| No | |
| Maybe | |
| Other |
Live Poll
Do you believe that there has really been a social change in America?
| Yes, absolutely! | |
| No, not at all!! | |
| There has been some! | |
| I don't know! | |
| Other |
Live Poll
Do you believe that most American citizens hold strong biases against minorities?
| Yes | |
| No | |
| I don't know! | |
| Other |
It is pretty sad but it's true that some people might look at everything Obama does and go: that's great, I really like that my President did that. But as they look at him, they cannot help but feel anger or hatred, just because they are unable to see him as a person and let go of their racism.
As we take a good look at the world we live in, we can see many different groups of people. Whether they are racial groups or others, there are the differences that will always bother this or that person.
When President Obama was elected, the world looked at the United States of America and saw hope for the future; people from all corners of the world who have at least once in their lives suffered racial discrimination started to believe again. They believed in freedom and they started to regain faith in humanity.
They celebrated President Obama's victory as if it had been their own!
And for some whose family members that once were denied the right to even eat at a public restaurant, or were denied the freedom to live their live as a human being, could once again bring themselves to believe that humans can all live together in harmony without fearing for their lives just because they have a different color of skin.
Maybe the meaning of Obama's election to some of the other nations was greater than any American citizen can imagine. But little they know about what really goes on in this country. They may just have no idea of how far we really are from being a nation that accepts everyone without restrictions.
It seems to me that America just loves to be the first: The first to fly to and step on the moon, the first in flight*; the first to elect a black president…! Which could easily be completely for political purposes and to bring the USA's popularity back to the spotlight [accomplished by the way] but I certainly do not know any of this for sure.
Truth be told, as I mentioned in the beginning of this article, I think that there are people that just can't help but dislike President Barack Obama and his family for the simplest fact that they have dark skin or are African descendants. It doesn't really matter that his mother was a white woman.
The reality is they will always find something wrong to say about him; they will always have negative thinking regardless if President Obama brings this country's economy to the best it has ever been.
The world outside believes that the people of the United States of America are one step ahead of everyone when it comes to fighting discrimination. But how much truth is in that, really?
I think that this country and the rest of the world are yet to be openly accepting of the minority. We have a long, very long way to go until things can really change. They may change but it'll be a very extremely slow transition.
But whatever the purpose was, the fact is that America has elected a multiracial/Black man as the greatest nation of the wolrd's President. I guess that if the world at least follows the USA's positive steps towards this change, then the USA's contribution to this change will be the first and most important one. But this step towards change shouldn't just end there…America should keep on walking!
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7.2
{"commentId":7315098,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
I like to believe that President Obama was mostly elected because of the economic situation the country was in, because everyone was tired of Bush and the Republicans' administration and wanted to move on from the whole Iraq war thing.
But I can't help but wonder if most Americans really believed there could be positive changes for the minorities.
I'd be great to think that it all had nothing to do with race or color but that we elected a man that was capable of leading the country in the right direction.
{"commentId":7315098,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"crisgu"}
- 5 votes
#1 - Wed May 27, 2009 5:25 PM EDT{"commentId":7315959,"authorDomain":"neal242"}
Yes, some people voted against Obama because of his race but people voted for him because of his race as well.
I think less liberals and more republicans would have voted for him had they known this!
I'll never vote for the military industrial complex's picks. Basically means any candidate that gets media spotlight works against the people. Haven't you found it interesting how Obama takes on evil bush policies, or looking further back how every president since the end of WWII slowly but surely shifts towards a more totalitarian state every time. I know people think Obama is for the people, but think about it- if Obama was our best choice that makes McCain our second best(scary).... yet both republican/democrat admin. support anti-Americanism(NAFTA, aggressive foreign policy, patriot act, wiretapping, corporate welfare). Guess Obama is just following family legacy, goodbye America.
{"commentId":7315959,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"neal242"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7316843,"authorDomain":"neal242"}
I guess that one way or the other, all politicians end up being just another politician. In the end, they always win while we most likely lose everytime.
Thankyou Cris,
I get very frustrated on newsvine when I post my thoughts about the political system and receive comments calling me a terrorist or suggest that I work for the gop. I was neutral with President Obama during the election campaigns until he switched his position on NAFTA(bush/clinton supported this). That was the moment when I realized that America does not have real choice but just a flashy theatrical show. Every year one of the main parties plays "bad cop" and the other plays "good cop", I'm afraid that if Obama doesn't live up to his hype Americans will just vote for republicans again effectively sending us back into the dark ages. I was a very staunch critic of the Bush admin. and as long as President Obama upholds these terrible Bush policies I'll just see him as a Bush clone(George did emphasize change in election for his first term).
This is a long video, but it will help people understand. Of course most would rather get their information from Fox or MSM
{"commentId":7316843,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"neal242"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7318236,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7320616,"authorDomain":"eric24"}
Yes, some people voted against Obama because of his race but people voted for him because of his race as well.
I didn't vote for him and it had nothing to do with his skin color. Him being half black and half white.. big whoopie do. Its his actions / policies I am in disagreement with. Not his skin color. Although I agree with th qoute above... some people probably voted based on color. I think more people voted for him... because of his color than those that opposed him. There are plenty of examples of it all over the place. He got 96 percent of the Black vote. However, there were many interviews done by different radio shows that interviewed Black people about Obama, asking them "So do you support the fact that Obama is pro life and wants to keep the troops in Iraq?" (applying McCains views to Obamas name) and the individual being interviewed answered" Oh yea, thats fine." So it showed a blatant disregard for policies and only a focus on race FOR SOME PEOPLE. My personal belief is I'll vote for who ever is most qualified, most experience, and views are more in line with what I believe to be is right and best for this country. I don't care what color / race they are.
{"commentId":7320616,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"eric24"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7325949,"authorDomain":"tenchsrt"}
simplistic, good post. I voted for Obama, with caution i admit. I am white, college educated, and middle class. I look at someone, even presidential candidates, as people. Not black people or white people, but as people. John McCain and Palin would have been a disastrous combination for this country. I do not agree with many of Obama's policies, however, we do have to realize that this world is about compromise. I would much rather have him leading out country than any member of the wild and crazy republican party right now. (good point about the "applying McCain's views to Obama's name" interviews) I saw that and was like, you have to be kidding me. Do you think their should be a basic intelligence test to pass before being allowed to vote? I think in some cases that would be entirely appropriate! Good post nonetheless.
{"commentId":7325949,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"tenchsrt"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7317229,"authorDomain":"racknstack"}
I don't buy that argument. There might be a few rednecks out there who would hate the guy no matter what because of his color, but in the end don't all presidents fail to live up to expectations? I think the days of a consistent 70% approval rating are gone. The media has become far too involved in our day to day lives to let us breathe and rationally think about politics. Every ridiculous headline from Fox News is countered with ridiculous headline from MSNBC.
The media has polarized the nation, and we're no better off for it.
{"commentId":7317229,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"racknstack"}
- 2 votes
#2 - Wed May 27, 2009 7:22 PM EDT{"commentId":7318985,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7317251,"authorDomain":"pepper1376"}
I'm betting that many more people voted FOR him because he was black than voted against him for the same reason.
I don't care what his friggin' color is. It's time we stop talking about "the first black _______" "the first latina______" "the first woman________" GET OVER IT ALREADY. Start voting for people for their views for crying out loud, their plans for our country. Anyone who voted for obama simply because "it's time we had a black man as president" IS A RACIST. Anyone who did this is just as bad as the KKK member who didn't vote for him because he was black. Despicable. This is our country you "voters" are playing games with. Knock it off!!!! Get over the race, sex, gender and MOVE ON. Obama is a socialist, plain and simple. If he was white, he would STILL be a socialist. If he was a woman, he'd still be socialist. His ideas HAVE been tried before (Hitler, Stalin, Mao), didn't work out to well. Carter attempted to try it in America and was practically chased out with pitchforks. Obama's ideas are not original--carter already tried them all. Look at what Reagan had to clean up when Carter finally finished his reign of terror. you think unemployment is high now..... GEESH!
{"commentId":7317251,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"pepper1376"}
- 1 vote
#3 - Wed May 27, 2009 7:23 PM EDT{"commentId":7318359,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7325981,"authorDomain":"GreatGreg"}
Personally I think Obama doesn't have a clue any subject.. If he was White, Teleprompter or not he would have lost to MC Cain.
{"commentId":7325981,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"GreatGreg"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7328474,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7328639,"authorDomain":"GreatGreg"}
He's a talker not a doer, and he depends on everyone else for answers to any problem. Example, the trillion dollar bailout, he never read one page of the documents, yet he tried to make believe he knew all about it, which of course he didn't have a clue.
{"commentId":7328639,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"GreatGreg"}
- 1 vote
{"commentId":7317915,"authorDomain":"beamerab3"}
I'm African American, and I voted "no" when to the question: "Do you believe that most American citizens hold strong biases against minorities?"
However, I wish that the majority of americans who don't hold these strong biases would tell minority of americans who do to STFU.
{"commentId":7317915,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"beamerab3"}
- 3 votes
#4 - Wed May 27, 2009 8:06 PM EDT{"commentId":7319765,"authorDomain":"myriver"}
I think that this country and the rest of the world are yet to be openly accepting of the minority.
I think there are those who will never outgrow the spite and ugliness they have been taught to thrive on. I also think there are those who embrace change and welcome all walks of life. To me, it doesn't matter quite so much how many of each there are, because, you see, the only winners in the end will be the ones who can change, learn, and grow. Those who choose not to will damn themselves, and their children, to an embattled state of mind.
{"commentId":7319765,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"myriver"}
- 3 votes
#5 - Wed May 27, 2009 10:12 PM EDT{"commentId":7319793,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7321123,"authorDomain":"ilkbahar-carl"}
the only winners in the end will be the ones who can change, learn, and grow. Those who choose not to will damn themselves, and their children, to an embattled state of mind.
River, my hats off to you. Couldn't have said it better.
Chris, if you don't mind i'm just going to type something from the book i'm reading..it's about pregnancy.. A friend of her rubs her back while she's in labor and she thinks
Maybe this was the great equalizer she'd been hoping for- not pregnancy itself, but birth that put all women, large, and small, black and white, rich and poor and in between, on the same playing field, battered by fear, begging for drugs, wanting nothing except for the pain to stop and the baby to arrive.
We all bleed , hurt, the same and were born the same way. Let's get rid of what was forced upon us because of pre conceived hatred.
{"commentId":7321123,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"ilkbahar-carl"}
- 2 votes
{"commentId":7328974,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7324885,"authorDomain":"JWWSU"}
Since we are all Africans anyway, so called racism is little more than self hate.
People at the lower end of the economic, education, intelligence and life success scale have to have somebody to look down to. If everybody on the planet was lilly white or Asian or Black or whatever, people would still find some kind of label to set some people apart as inferior.
It's all too silly and stupid. Boring also.
{"commentId":7324885,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"JWWSU"}
#6 - Thu May 28, 2009 9:48 AM EDT{"commentId":7327154,"authorDomain":"crisgu"}
{"commentId":7334077,"authorDomain":"trentroy-1"}
Actually, he would be perfect if he didn't support abortion. Perfect for a politician, anyway, you can't really trust any of them to do anything that isn't somewhat self-motivated, but the abortion issue is really the only thing I had to get past to vote for him, race didn't come into play. Man, what I wouldn't give for a good democratic nominee that didn't support abortion. They'd run away with the polls because then all the christians could get on board right along with the liberals and have a good ole landslide.
{"commentId":7334077,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"trentroy-1"}
#7 - Thu May 28, 2009 4:53 PM EDT{"commentId":7334508,"authorDomain":"magsbyt"}
No one is perfect. You apparently think he is because he is "multiracial/black." That's racist. That's also ridiculous - he can't be both multiracial and black. His black parent was basically a sperm donor and Obama was raised by a white mother and white grandparents in very racially tolerant societies, Indonesia and Hawaii.
Blacks are not a minority in the world and Obama is not the first "black" leader in the world. The only true minority in the world is the Caucasian race.
Whites do not have a monopoly on racism and racial stereotypes. There is plenty of stereotyping and discrimination within the "black community" based on skin tone and facial features. This is true in Africa and South America, China, India - everywhere. It's a human thing, not a white American thing.
Don't you have something better to do with your time than post emptyheaded threads about problems that don't exist? Who cares if a few hateful racists don't like Obama? Not everyone liked Bush or anyone else who served as president. Go back and read some of the things that were said about prior presidents - Obama has a cakewalk compared to what the other guys went through. Especially pay attention to John Adams, Andrew Johnson and Abraham Lincoln - the press attacked Mrs. Lincoln unrelentingly and used horrible terms to describe her.
Given the fact that 95% of the blacks in this country voted for Obama based solely on his skin color, I think you should be careful about calling anyone else racist.
{"commentId":7334508,"threadId":"588941","contentId":"2843203","authorDomain":"magsbyt"}
#8 - Thu May 28, 2009 5:13 PM EDT{"canLink":false,"threadId":"588941","isPrivate":false}
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