Shocked & Disgusted
 

I've known that racism is still alive in our country. But I am appalled by the reactions and feedback that I saw in my Facebook “News Feed” on Tuesday Night regarding Obama’s win

I understand that McCain supporters are going to be upset that their candidate lost. I would feel the same if I was in their position. But I couldn’t believe the ignorance and hatred I witnessed moments after Obama’s win. I saw a countless number of “Status Updates” from people voicing their displeasure about Obama’s victory. Yes, everyone has the right to do this, but what disgusts me is how many people were making it blatantly obvious that they’re mad at the fact that a black man won. I knew racism was still around, but I guess I was just naïve, not realizing just how bad it really is still.

I’m not accusing all McCain supporters of being against Obama just because he’s black. Everyone has their differences in opinions about political issues and I know these are reasons that many people disagree on candidates. But immediately following the election, I witnessed an overwhelming number of people express their anger about our next President because of his skin color. To these people I say: If you’re going to hate Obama, at least make yourself sound educated and hate him for a real reason—not because he’s black.

It’s 2008. When will we move past this race thing? There are so many other things that we could be doing with this hateful energy. We all know that our country needs some serious changes but we cannot do this divided. We must work together as Americans to help our country out of this mess! I sincerely hope that everyone will soon realize that the racism is useless and will only hinder our progress.


^^^ So that there was a little editorial I wrote and submitted into my school's paper....I'm crossing my fingers that it gets published soon. I just felt so disgusted after seeing a few people's reactions to Obama's win that I felt I needed to do SOMETHING...

And for some of you who may think I'm over reacting, here's a few of the status updates I saw....

"Katie ------- says obama is a poisoin to this country. he is a sin. disgusting."

Sure, that comment is not particularly racist, but here's what she also wrote on someone's wall:

"he's just after money for all the dirty black people like himself"

.....

Another girl wrote

"Samantha -------- think's it's called the WHITE house for a reason"

And another...

"Frankie --------- FREE FRIED CHICKEN AND KOOL-AID IN GRANT PARK"




Is anyone else experiencing or witnessing anything like this? If so, how do you feel about it?

I haven't noticed any bad messages on facebook (my friends that are McCain supporters have basically been saying statements like "Well, looks like Obama won. Hopefully he follows through with his promise of change"). I have gotten a few text messages that were questionable. I think everyone needs time to calm down, so this will probably fade out in a few weeks.

You know, you could save the screenshots and send it to higher-ups on FB or something like that. Don't know if it could get these people's accounts banned, but some of these comments might be against FB's terms of service.

I wanted McCain and Palin too win. But it has NOTHING to do with the color of anyone's skin- and EVERYTHING to do with what they stand for.

And voting for Obama because he's black is just as wrong as voting for McCain because he's not black.

And voting for Palin because she's "like me" is wrong, too. (Not saying that's what you did, but a few people in my family did!:rolleyes:)

Everyone has their reasons for voting for one candidate or the other, but I can guarantee you that a good portion of people have no idea what either candidate stands for.

I work in a law office with someone who used to be a district attorney. He had other people on his campaign take polls of people and ask them who they were voting for, and why. There was a ridiculous amount of people who said they were voting for him, but with reasons that had nothing to do with his policies or ideals. He said, "three women were asked why they were voting for me. One woman said, 'I love his eyes, they're so blue.' The other two women agreed and said, 'Yes, I love his eyes, he's so handsome."

It happens.

And I can tell you now that since Obama won, there has been racism in the other direction, also. My boyfriend works at a bank inside of a Wal-Mart. Yesterday, he was walking into work and there was a greeter at the door; an older woman who is white. A black woman was trying to get a carriage with one of the baby seats in it, way in the back of all of the others. The greeter walked over to her and asked her if she needed help, and the woman responded, and I quote, “No, I don’t need YOUR help, we have a black man in the white house now, I can do what I want all by myself.”

It’s going to be a rough time on both sides of the fence. I think it’s great that Obama was elected, but I still don’t know if it’s the right time for it. There are still a whole lot of people who are not tolerant of those who aren’t like themselves. In 20 years, it might not even be much of a problem at all. And could this all blow over in a couple of weeks? Sure. But there’s definitely a possibility that this is going to be a long and bumpy road.

Did South Africa go thru this when Mandela was elected?

McCain-anites?

That is the most true statement I've heard in the past week!!


Republicans and anti-Clinton people reacted the same way in 1992 and 1996 when Clinton was elected. The country did not fall apart and go to hell. Sure he did some bad things (morally and politically) while in office but that is true of every president. I dont think Clinton was a good president, but I dont think he was a bad one either. Maybe a similar outcome will happen with Obama being president? not good but not bad either? Regardless I believe it is God's will at work here. For good or bad there is a purpose for Obama being elected president.

It's just as offensive to be against the man because of his race as it is to support him because of his race. I wonder if black folks voted overwhelmingly for Obama mainly because of his foreign policy differences with McCain... or maybe his tax policy?

The door swings both ways.

there's a difference between pride and hate. and if you're offended by it, remain offended. white people have been voting their interests for CENTURIES.

The door can swing both ways, just like how people stood behind Sarah Palin because she was a woman, or because she had ookabillion kids. BUT...if you think it's acceptable for people to post on Facebook that they hope Obama doesn't make it through his first term, that's a whole other problem.

I didn't say those folks were all that bright either.

I never said that.

The racism is terrible - it's still there, in the minds of many people, and the election has brought that out. I agree - those comments were ridiculous.

The sad thing is, I'm not surprised by the comments. We saw some of the things that were posted on this board, the video of people making racist statements, and the quotes from individuals that expressed racist thoughts.

I think we have to be careful in criticizing some of these people - isn't it ok to be disappointed about the results? Do we really have to expect people to unite immediately after the election?

I think that if you have a problem with people's disappointment after the election, ask yourself a question: when Bush won last time (and in 2000), were you ready to unite behind him immediately after the results were finalized? Or, did it take you some time to get over the defeat of the candidate you supported?

If you weren't ready to support Bush immediately, then I think you should give people a little more time to get behind someone they didn't support throughout the process. That's not a slight at the President-Elect, but more of a view on the reality of elections generally.

This was a momentous election, no doubt, in that it means a great deal above and beyond the fact that a new President was elected. But, it's well within human nature for people to be disappointed if they didn't vote Obama, and for it to take some time before they get behind the new President. To expect otherwise isn't reasonable.

That's not to say that they should be talking about leaving the country or stockpiling weapons, or anything like that...