“I have decided to stick with love. Hate is too great a burden to bear.” ~~ Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.
Lately, I have been avoiding my Facebook feed and deleting people who I realize have views much different from mine. Yes, I am aware that we all have varying opinions on all issues, large and small. However, as the United States Presidential election moves closer, I am reminded of the enormity of the race factor in this country. Hence, I no longer wish to be bombarded on Facebook with hate based words and images.
Despite the fact that an overwhelming number of caucasians voted President Obama in to office, there are still large portions of the population that, without verbally admitting it, are uncomfortable that a black man is in charge of our country. And yes, he is considered black, not biracial, despite the current climate of political correctness. If he wasn’t considered a black man, I highly doubt that the legitimacy of his birth certificate would STILL be a topic of conversation.
Has he been a good President? I can’t say; history will make that distinction for me. Will he be re elected? I hope so, despite the fact that I do not vote. (Another topic, for another day) Has he proven that race should not be the defining characteristic of a person? Sadly, not yet but maybe when my children are grandparents, having a multicultural President will be the norm and not the exception.
It is never far from my mind that it is important to teach my children that their biracial heritage should never limit them. I am reminded of November 4, 2008, when I sat in my bed, tears streaming down my face, and watched as Barack Obama became the 44th President of the United States. A black man with a white mother, who was not born into wealth, was now our President. It was an overwhelming feeling.
On that night, I wrote a letter to my oldest son, Isaiah, who was 13 years old at the time and better able to grasp the magnitude of this election. Following are the words that I shared with him:
Dear Isaiah,
I hope that, as you grow older, you will begin in some small way, to realize the importance of this night. I also hope that you paid attention while watching Obama’s win because you truly saw history in the making. I must confess that I never believed, that in my lifetime, I would see a black man become President of the United States.
While I understand that you don’t fully grasp the significance of this event; someday you will. Tonight, I feel overcome with joy and hope. For the first time in your life, I feel that I can look you and your brother in the eyes and tell you that, with hard work, you can become whatever you want. The doors are wide open for you now. Society may, at many times, judge you by your skin color but that does not define you.
President Obama was raised by a white, single mother and his father was not actively involved in his life. Look at what he achieved despite those obstacles! He had the love of his mother and his grandparents and he became a great man. Son, this is the hope that I have for you. You are a beautiful combination of intertwined roots that reach back to Africa and Europe. You are surrounded by more love than you can comprehend. Your heritage, combined with your intelligence, is going to take you far in life.
I am honored and grateful to be your mother.
I love you, Mama
How is race treated where you live? How do you teach your children about the racial differences in people?
This is an original post to World Moms Blog by Margie Bryant of Arkansas, USA. She can be found on Twitter @TheHunnyB.
Photo credit to http://www.flickr.com/photos/gingerbydesign/3005205122/. This photo has a creative commons attribution license.
Dear Margie, I love what you wrote to your son and I TOTALLY believe that nobody should be prejudiced by the colour of their skin. By the same token I don’t think anybody should get a “free pass” because of the colour of their skin either!!
I live in South Africa. Here caucasian and biracial people are the minority groups. Not only are we not given any special priviliges because we’re a “minority group” we’re actively disadvantaged (whether it’s fair to make us pay for mistakes made by a (now dead) generation, is irrelevant for the current discussion). The truth is that (in South Africa) biracial (here called “coloured”) people are as disadvantaged as they were before 1994 …. and currently the MOST disadvantaged group is male caucasian!!
Both my children have always attended fully integrated public schools and both have biracial best friends. I only point out that their best friends are biracial to prove that “race” per se is not a factor. However the politics around “ethnicity” are another story altogether!
The problem is that our current President keeps telling the electorate that (despite the fact that a “Black” man has been in power since 1994) white people are to blame for the lack of “service delivery” and free housing! 🙁
“Proportional representation” in large Corporates and Universities means that a white male must either become an enterpreneur or must leave the country.
I still pray for a world without “arbritary” lables. A world like that “imagined” by John Lennon all those years ago; where all the people share all the world and there’s nothing left to fight or die for! “You may think I’m a Dreamer, but I’m not the only one, maybe one day you’ll join us and the World will Be As One!”
Dear Margie, I love what you wrote to your son and I TOTALLY believe that nobody should be prejudiced by the colour of their skin. By the same token I don’t think anybody should get a “free pass” because of the colour of their skin either!!
I live in South Africa. Here caucasian and biracial people are the minority groups. Not only are we not given any special priviliges because we’re a “minority group” we’re actively disadvantaged (whether it’s fair to make us pay for mistakes made by a (now dead) generation, is irrelevant for the current discussion). The truth is that (in South Africa) biracial (here called “coloured”) people are as disadvantaged as they were before 1994 …. and currently the MOST disadvantaged group is male caucasian!!
Both my children have always attended fully integrated public schools and both have biracial best friends. I only point out that their best friends are biracial to prove that “race” per se is not a factor. However the politics around “ethnicity” are another story altogether!
The problem is that our current President keeps telling the electorate that (despite the fact that a “Black” man has been in power since 1994) white people are to blame for the lack of “service delivery” and free housing! 🙁
“Proportional representation” in large Corporates and Universities means that a white male must either become an enterpreneur or must leave the country.
I still pray for a world without “arbritary” lables. A world like that “imagined” by John Lennon all those years ago; where all the people share all the world and there’s nothing left to fight or die for! “You may think I’m a Dreamer, but I’m not the only one, maybe one day you’ll join us and the World will Be As One!”
This is a great post and a reminder about the importance of the lessons we teach our children. Having grown up in South Africa at a time when Apartheid was being dismantled, race-related issues were a big part of my life for many years. As a child, I saw black people being arrested en masse simply for being in white-designated neighbourhoods without a pass. I am privileged to have witnessed the release of Nelson Mandela and voted in South Africa’s first democratic election. I feel that I was a small part of the most exciting era of South Africa’s socio-political history.
It is a sad fact of life that in many parts of the world that claim otherwise, racism is alive and well. I hear people make one excuse after another for why Obama should not be re-elected, and a great deal of those excuses are badly-disguised examples of racial prejudice. I have no problem with people not liking Obama – but if they dislike him and his policies, it should be for legitimate reasons.
Thank you for sharing the letter you wrote to Isaiah. What a proud and significant moment that must have been for you and your boys.
This is a great post and a reminder about the importance of the lessons we teach our children. Having grown up in South Africa at a time when Apartheid was being dismantled, race-related issues were a big part of my life for many years. As a child, I saw black people being arrested en masse simply for being in white-designated neighbourhoods without a pass. I am privileged to have witnessed the release of Nelson Mandela and voted in South Africa’s first democratic election. I feel that I was a small part of the most exciting era of South Africa’s socio-political history.
It is a sad fact of life that in many parts of the world that claim otherwise, racism is alive and well. I hear people make one excuse after another for why Obama should not be re-elected, and a great deal of those excuses are badly-disguised examples of racial prejudice. I have no problem with people not liking Obama – but if they dislike him and his policies, it should be for legitimate reasons.
Thank you for sharing the letter you wrote to Isaiah. What a proud and significant moment that must have been for you and your boys.
Why don’t you vote, Margie?
There is that example of how runners for years were trying to break the 3 minute mile, and no one could. Then, someone did, and the next year a bunch more runners also did. If you can imagine it or see it happen, you can do it. When someone makes something possible, then it becomes more possible for others.
I am also looking forward to the day we have our first female US President!
I agree with you, Kirsten. Politics is about the candidates’ platforms. Not about what they look like.
Margie — the attack on the color of Obama’s skin during the last US election really shocked me, especially by people who I thought knew better. No matter who the candidate, they should be judged on their political stances and their plans for the country, not by the color of their skin.
Simona — I loved how you brought up the idea of global unity through John Lennon’s song!
Margie, it was really interesting to read your viewpoint, as a mother raising biracial children in America.
Jen 🙂
Why don’t you vote, Margie?
There is that example of how runners for years were trying to break the 3 minute mile, and no one could. Then, someone did, and the next year a bunch more runners also did. If you can imagine it or see it happen, you can do it. When someone makes something possible, then it becomes more possible for others.
I am also looking forward to the day we have our first female US President!
I agree with you, Kirsten. Politics is about the candidates’ platforms. Not about what they look like.
Margie — the attack on the color of Obama’s skin during the last US election really shocked me, especially by people who I thought knew better. No matter who the candidate, they should be judged on their political stances and their plans for the country, not by the color of their skin.
Simona — I loved how you brought up the idea of global unity through John Lennon’s song!
Margie, it was really interesting to read your viewpoint, as a mother raising biracial children in America.
Jen 🙂
One of your more moving pieces. Well written and even though this happened in our lifetime, it still seems unreal. What’s amazing to me is I never think of him as a “black president” until I hear people rallying against him for what appears to be no other reason than race. Sometimes it seems as though he was set up to fail considering the state of the union when he took office and the resistance he has met during his term. The problem is when you root for our president to fail, you are in fact rooting for the country to fail. That is somethin we as Americans whether white or black, Republican or Democrat should never lose sight of. As a sports obsessed nation an analogy I think we can all identify with is Obama is the coach. If every player on the team is not on board with the directives of the coach the whole team loses. Vote how you feel but when the election is over, move towards making our country stronger. Together. After all, this is supposed to be the UNITED States of America.