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The last few days, Claire and Katie have been talking about voting and the election. Since we live in a conservative area, most of what they have been hearing is the name John McCain. Katie informed me that she was voting McCain. Claire hadn’t made up her mind mostly because she couldn’t remember the other guy’s name.
Claire told me on Monday that her teacher said that John McCain was going to be our next president. I just told her that I was sorry, but her teacher was wrong. There was a lot of discussion among the 2nd and 3rd graders at Claire’s school the day after the election. Claire came home with a lot of concerns.
Claire- “Barack Obama is going to take away Christmas.”
Me- “Claire, that is ridiculous. Where did you hear that?”
Claire- “From a 3rd grader, so it’s true.”
Me- “Claire, that is not true. Barack Obama is a dad and he’s nice. Even if he could take away Christmas, he wouldn’t.”
Claire- “Well, I heard it from a 3rd grader! And she said he’s not smart.”
Me- “He went to Harvard and not just Harvard. He went to law school at Harvard. It’s the best place to go to college and they only let really smart people go there.”
Claire- “I heard that he’s not smart and he blows up buildings and then people don’t have a place to live.”
Me- “That is not true. Don’t you think I know more than a 3rd grader?”
Claire- “No.”
The most disturbing thing she said was that Obama won’t be president for long. She was told that someone would kill him.
I am disgusted that parents would discuss such things either with or in front of their children. I think it’s great to talk about the election process and who the candidates are but that should be the end of it. The overwhelming interest among grade-school children in this particular election makes me uneasy. Even among this age group, some of it reeks of racism.
I think it would be appropriate for the schools to discuss the new president and address the concerns of the kids. Clearly there is misinformation being conveyed in some of the homes that is then being passed on to all of our children. I’m pretty sure that I’m not the only parent that does not want children being exposed to ignorance and hatred.
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Showing posts with label racism. Show all posts
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Friday, September 12, 2008
McCain's Racist History
You may have heard about the latest lie in the McCain campaign. They are now saying that Barack Obama called Sarah Palin a pig. The reality is that Obama used the expression “you can put lipstick on a pig, but it’s still a pig” in reference to McCain’s addition of the word "change" to his own campaign. Obama’s point was that McCain is saying change but the reality is that McCain voted along with George Bush 95 percent of the time. Here is the video that caused the stir.
McCain is now running campaign ads perpetuating the lie. This is not surprising but it does raise concerns as far as just how damaging this might be for the Obama campaign. The same people that are most likely to get their news from watching TV alone are the same ones that are likely to have racist views and take offense at a black man calling a white woman a pig.
The McCain lipstick ad is no longer available on YouTube due to CBS demanding it’s removal. There is another McCain ad that says that Obama is not respectful of Sarah Palin. I am not understanding why Palin deserves so much respect. Was Hillary Clinton shown more respect than a male running for president? If so, I am not aware of it. I almost hate to suggest it but it’s starting to feel like McCain/Palin are planting the seeds of racism.
John McCain has had some issues with racism in the past and I would think that he would be reluctant to do anything to draw attention to that. As everyone knows, John McCain is quick to utter “POW” given half a chance. He is so prone to this in interviews that at times it almost seems like a tic, “POW”, cough, “war hero”.
Since I have been doing research on McCain, I came across his account of being held prisoner. I was shocked to read that he referred to his captors as “gooks.” I was further shocked by the sheer number of times he used the clearly offensive term. He used the term a total of 13 times. Here's an except.
"After I had been there about 10 days, a "gook"—which is what we called the North Vietnamese—came in one morning."
John McCain continued to feel free to use the derogatory term until as recently as 2000. Prior to this McCain had some other issues with inappropriate comments. In a book titled “The Real McCain”, an incident between John and Cindy McCain was witnessed by reporters.
“Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days."
I think we all should be concerned. If that wasn't enough, here is Palin being interviewed by ABC's Charles Gibson. You've just got to love the way she tries to hide the fact that she has no clue what he's talking about.
McCain is now running campaign ads perpetuating the lie. This is not surprising but it does raise concerns as far as just how damaging this might be for the Obama campaign. The same people that are most likely to get their news from watching TV alone are the same ones that are likely to have racist views and take offense at a black man calling a white woman a pig.
The McCain lipstick ad is no longer available on YouTube due to CBS demanding it’s removal. There is another McCain ad that says that Obama is not respectful of Sarah Palin. I am not understanding why Palin deserves so much respect. Was Hillary Clinton shown more respect than a male running for president? If so, I am not aware of it. I almost hate to suggest it but it’s starting to feel like McCain/Palin are planting the seeds of racism.
John McCain has had some issues with racism in the past and I would think that he would be reluctant to do anything to draw attention to that. As everyone knows, John McCain is quick to utter “POW” given half a chance. He is so prone to this in interviews that at times it almost seems like a tic, “POW”, cough, “war hero”.
Since I have been doing research on McCain, I came across his account of being held prisoner. I was shocked to read that he referred to his captors as “gooks.” I was further shocked by the sheer number of times he used the clearly offensive term. He used the term a total of 13 times. Here's an except.
"After I had been there about 10 days, a "gook"—which is what we called the North Vietnamese—came in one morning."
John McCain continued to feel free to use the derogatory term until as recently as 2000. Prior to this McCain had some other issues with inappropriate comments. In a book titled “The Real McCain”, an incident between John and Cindy McCain was witnessed by reporters.
“Three reporters from Arizona, on the condition of anonymity, also let me in on another incident involving McCain's intemperateness. In his 1992 Senate bid, McCain was joined on the campaign trail by his wife, Cindy, as well as campaign aide Doug Cole and consultant Wes Gullett. At one point, Cindy playfully twirled McCain's hair and said, "You're getting a little thin up there." McCain's face reddened, and he responded, "At least I don't plaster on the makeup like a trollop, you cunt." McCain's excuse was that it had been a long day. If elected president of the United States, McCain would have many long days."
I think we all should be concerned. If that wasn't enough, here is Palin being interviewed by ABC's Charles Gibson. You've just got to love the way she tries to hide the fact that she has no clue what he's talking about.
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