Dear Friend,
I am not one who likes to dwell on issues of Race, however, I do believe racism still exist and deal with it in some shape, size and form on a daily basis.
I was on cnn.com today just reading about the presidential election and there are so many articles about comments being made in the media about Obama's race. Why are we so caught up on the fact that here in America we categorize Barack Obama as a black man. His mother is white and his dad is black. He is just as much black as he is white. Great! Now can we move on from that?
This just shows how we live in a culture that is so wrapped up in looks and labeling people based on their presentation. On cnn.com there's an article about some news commentator who I don't really care to know his name or really acknowledge, not because I don't like him, I don't know him, but because this isn't about one man making one comment, called Obama an "OREO," meaning that he was Black on the outside and White on the inside. WHAT?
I manage a boutique called Monkee's in the Hill Center and a lady came in one day, a black lady, and overheard me having a conversation with a friend who also happened to be black. She made a comment to one of my co-workers that we sounded "White." Yes! Color has a sound now. The sad thing is, most of us will hear this and go, "Oh, I know what she means." As if by being Black you have to use a certain vocabulary. How a person speaks has nothing to do with the color of their skin but the environment in which they grew up or live in.
Barack Obama doesn't sound White. He sounds like a man who is wanting you to share a message of HOPE for his country and family. Isn't that the point of a Presidential Candidate? Can we get by the color of his skin and really listen to what the man has to say?
But Barack Obama running for office isn't the biggest issue when it comes to racism in this country.
Imagine being a little black girl in this country and looking through fashion magazines and never seeing anyone that looks like you. I mean most woman today look through fashion magazines and think they are fat because of the images but imagine having that same feeling plus not seeing anyone with the same skin color can really be somewhat painful to a certain degree.
Italia Vogue came out with a Black Issue, in which they highlighted black women throughout the issue and talked about their issues within this business as far as trying to get work. One individual who saw the issue made reference of the many faces of black women they showed in the issue but also made reference to the fact that all but one Ad in the whole magazine featured a black woman.
Racism still exist in this country, but can you expect anything different? When you never deal with an issue and just try to sweep it under the rug eventually it will resurface and will be more complicated to deal with. You would think that in 2008 we would be able to look pass the color of someone's skin, but as long as we as a people are not willing to discover the truth about life, love and the pursuit of happiness, we will continue a cycle of dealing with the same issues in a more advanced and complicated culture.
Love,
Robert
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