I thought of this when I read Nadra's recent post on her blog about the movie Crash. (Just for the record, in case you've never met me, I freakin' hate that movie.)
I have heard some rumblings that there is a significant percentage of Obama supporters who think there is a high possibility he will be assassinated if he is elected to office. And when I say high possibility, I mean I've heard some folks say, "I'm supportive, and I am voting for him, but I don't think he'll make it out of the first year alive."
I have to say that I was initially pretty shocked when I heard someone say this for the first time. My initial thought was, "I would like to think that America is too old for that." But then I set aside the rose-colored glasses that I enjoy wearing on most days and thought about it for a minute. I haven't done any recent research, but I am sure that hate crimes are alive and well, regardless of what minority you might belong to these days. While I would like to say I haven't heard a racist comment recently, in reality I hear them on a daily basis, whether it is overt (a derogatory term yelled by an idiot on the street at some poor bystander) or covert (i.e. Fox News coverage of immigration issues). Sadly, America is not close to being hate free.
This reminds me of viewing the movie Crash because when I saw the movie, I thought (and clearly still think) it was a reprehensible piece of garbage. I lived in Los Angeles for 5.5 years and the majority of the people I interacted with on a daily basis seemed normal and could at least restrain any latent prejudices they might have had so that they behaved rationally in public. But I know in my heart that all of the hate issues that are touched on in Crash (and even more that are not) exist in LA and in all of the US. I know horrible people do horrible things to innocent folks for abhorrent and ignorant reasons.
Thus, I would like to say that there is no extra threat of assassination posed to Obama, should he become President of the United States, just because of his race. But part of me also feels like to say so would be to turn my back on the issues of racism (and other isms) that we are still dealing with every day in this country.
Anyone else got some sentiments on this?
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4 comments:
I was thinking about this a couple/three weeks ago when I was re-listening to Bobby Kennedy's speech the night that MLK was assassinated in '68.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n1F-rg26ZZw
It is an incredibly moving speech, and well worth listening to.
I personally think we see how far America has come (or not) in the representation of the immigration issue (which you've mentioned), and also the war in Iraq/representation of Islam in the media. There are many people for whom the word "terrorist" is a thinly veiled racial epithet.
Mandy, thanks for your insight and the comment on my page. You're my first, yea! Sadly, I read a New York Times article yesterday that discussed this very topic. When I first heard about these fears, I just thought it was another way to discourage people from voting for Obama. But, in retrospect, I certainly believe assassination is a possibility. I certainly hope that's not how he goes out, if, indeed, he makes it to the White House.
It's refreshing to hear people from different walks of life who come together around their heartfelt and sobered critique of 'Crash.' Mandy and I have shared many a conversation about this one... It certainly doesn't hold a candle to other films that challenge stereotypes in LA. Recent recommended LA films: Quincienara, Rize, Real Women Have Curves.
Chris Rock has a telling (and hysterical) routine about how a black president would likely be assinated. He goes on to say that if there was ever a black vice president, he'd personally assasinate the president (granted, this is all said in good humor).
And on a related note. The opening to Sarah Vowell's book, Assassination Vacation, talks about how in general we find political assassinations to be ridiculous and can't believe why someone would kill Lincoln or Kennedy, but in the end it comes down to hating the person and the direction they're taking the country and wanting to change that. Or just plain craziness. Apparently the inspiration for the book were her feelings for Bush. I'd recommend it as a fun history/travel/humor read.
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