Last night after the reality set in, Karl Rove was on Fox News talking about how race is no longer a factor in America. How older generations who lived through the '40s and '50s might still see race in different terms, but today's youth, this new generation, is blind to race. And now, the biggest headline in the world is:
"OBAMA: Racial Barrier Falls as Voters Embrace Call for Change"
I thought this might be coming.
A victory for Barack Obama is certainly a victory for breaking race barriers. However, racial tensions DO NOT disappear in one generation -- who do you think was raising the youth of today? Space aliens?
The Republicans will cry out that racism is dead, we are in to the age of acceptance, while they continue to dominate politics and the wealthy sector of America. Affirmative Action is still a very important issue as we try to enroll men and women who, fifty years ago, could not use the same toilet as white men and women, much less sit in the same classrooms or read the same books. People who, for the first half of this country's existence, were by and large seen as buffoons and baboons in cultural affairs, even as white America looked favorably on (and even sometimes adopted) aspects of black culture, such as blues and jazz.
Race is not dead. We are not a colorblind America. People will still self-segregate to a point, and others will view them as one section of society. The two places I've lived show this. Anyone who lives in Melbourne has heard to avoid University Boulevard and the surrounding area, especially at night and on weekends. In Tallahassee, people warn against venturing into Frenchtown after hours. For better or worse, blacks are still sectioning off, and whites are still discriminating against them.
As other news networks put it, this is indeed a milestone for race relations, but it is only another small peak in an overall uphill battle. Be careful not to label racism where it does not exist, but also take care not to dismiss the issue altogether.
yes indeed.
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