Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Speak For Yourself I: Racism in Pottsville, PA

I'm starting a new series, entitled "Speak For Yourself," in which I will offer minimal commentary and allow the words of others to speak for themselves. This first installment is a video featuring a slew of persons outside a McCain rally in Pottsville, PA, making racist comments about Senator Obama and even blacks in general.


Now, some of the comments are obviously racist, like "I'll never vote for a black man." But go back and ask yourself this: how does race factor in the views of those who want to "bomb Obama," or think that his "associations and judgment" are "un-American," or who insist that he was "born in Kenya" and demand to see his birth certificate (in case your wondering, factcheck.com actually did see and examine his birth certificate, and have proven, as most sane individuals already knew, that Obama was born in Hawaii, and we should all know by now that Hawaii is part of the United States).

Final question: Why are McCain/Palin rallies attracting so much of this element?

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

Would like to publicize the barbaric murder by young, drunk, white thugs of a Mexican man, in Pottsville, PA. Admittedly, this town is described as white (in terms of leadership, if one can call it that), poor, and uneducated - definitely not a good place for ethnic minorities to be.

Even so, justice should know no boundaries, even the poor and uneducated ought not get away with murder. The thugs got off with a slap on the wrist, when they should have been taken off the streets.

Quite scary that this barbaric behavior seems to be fairly accepted by this town, and is one reason why the US can't seem to get a positive reputation on the international stage. And, news of these thugs has hit the international media. Is the only way for Pottsville to make its mark on the world through its ignorance and racism?

This kind of bigotry, racism, barbaric behavior is anti-productive in a country that is trying to be a world voice for freedom and individual rights. The US has lost much in credibility, and will have a hard time getting it back. White fear - fear that White people have of ethnicities and religions not of "their own" is one root of this violence.

Let's start the healing by changing the way publicly funded education "educates" people to be "American." Let's allow voices of minorities to be heard in textbooks.

The US was not built only by a small group of white pilgrims that sailed in on the Mayflower. It was built by people of color, as well.
They have viewpoints, voices, and they ought to be heard by all Americans beginning in elementary school or earlier.

What is being done to bring these murderers to justice? Is there a petition online, please let us know.