seriously, people, its the 90's

i read this article yesterday, and was completely incredulous at the unfounded hate that people can harbor. i just dont understand how you can hate someone so much just because of the color of their skin. evidently there are quite a few out there who will not vote for Obama, not because hes a liberal, but because hes black. thats no surprise to anyone with a toe hold on reality, but what surprised me was the unbridled hate that some have spewed at Obama supporters.

perhaps its my roots that have me open minded as i am. i grew up in the nearly 100% white city of Livonia just a couple miles from Detroit which happens to be about 80% black. we were also a just a few miles from Southfield, Bloomfield Hills, and Dearborn with large Jewish and Arab populations respectively. my parents both taught in Southfield and watched the demographic shift from a mostly white Jews and Christians to a predominantly black community. i wont lie and say that my parents never disparaged minorities, but they did dole it out in equal portions. i never got the impression that my parents were hateful. it always appeared to be in jest and noting cultural differences, like when black comedians make fun of white people.

my parents always encouraged any sort of cultural growth, be it ethnic food or going to slummy bars to see bands i liked(once i was old enough, of course...). this all one generation removed from a grandfather who was one of the first whites to flee Detroit for the suburbs in what would become the "white flight." the same grandfather who disowned my aunt, his daughter, for marrying a black man. the change in my family from the 50's to today is, at risk of a bad pun, black and white.

dont get me wrong. im not Stephen Colbert. i see race just like everyone else. i still have preconceived notions to some degree. i think its impossible not to. where i differ is that i dont let stereotypes and preconceived notions define how i look at people. rather than assuming the worst, i give people the benefit of the doubt, and assume that people in general are good. i think we owe it to each other to give one another a chance. you cant write someone off based on how they look.

a friend of mine has a goofy mohawk-ish haircut and piercings and tattoos and generally looks like a dude who is up to no good. the person he is is completely different from that assumption. hes probably the smartest person i know at my own age, he works for a non-profit community outreach company and volunteers on the side.

ive been talking for a while, but the point is as the old adage goes: dont judge a book by its cover.

sure Barack Obama is black. but hes also been a community activist and is Harvard educated. hes a US senator as we speak. or, rather, as i write. i simply cant wrap my mind around what people are afraid of. how do they come to hate and fear other races and religions. i laugh and cry every time someone calls Obama a Muslim. his father was a Muslim, but was not militant. Obama was educated in Muslim schools as a boy, but is openly Christian. Couldnt we stand to benefit from someone who has an understanding of both sides of that divide? Couldnt we stand to benefit from a president with a white mother from Kansas and a black immigrant father? to me, Obama's past is not a liability, it is what made him who he is, it is an asset in many of the challenges that would face him if he were to become our president.

i am glad that Obama and his staff have persevered through the hate and ignorance that have been flung at them. i am also glad that they didnt make a big deal of it. they turned the other cheek and soldiered on. what else can we do. i dont know that it is possible to change those racist and bigoted beleifs. all we can hope for is that they are a dying breed and that the rest of us can prove little by little that there is more than race. that the substance of a person is what matters, not his haircut, his skin color, or his faith, its the character of his person by which he should be judged.