Racist shoots man three time for wearing Obama t-shirt; in other news, race still irrelevant to election
October 8, 2008
Though I understand when people downplay the role of race in this election, and can agree with it to an extent and actually hope they’re right, but the news makes it difficult to be optimistic.
Crooks and Liars found an article at the Daily Mail (a UK paper) about a black gentleman wearing a Barack Obama t-shirt. Apparently the t-shirt (more than Dube Egwuatu’s ethnicity) drew a Caucasian man’s ire, and led to Mr. Egwuatu absorbing a barrage of racist verbal attacks, and then being shot and struck three times with a “gas-powered ball-bearing pistol” (an airgun with metal rounds?) in broad daylight by this Caucasian man.
This took place in London. That place where we think everyone is really classy and if racist, probably really polite about it. For a white guy in LONDON to get so upset about Barack Obama’s face on a t-shirt absolutely boggles the mind. As I’ve said before in my most recent post about Barack Obama’s race and the hatred (and stupidity) it seems to incite, I don’t feel shocked by the presence of a nut here and there. I expect that with over six billion successful births walking the streets, at least a few thousand have to be fucked up beyond words. But it does worry me immensely how polific even these very extreme manifestations of racial hatred against Barack Obama are. I always assumed that the First Black President, whether in 2008 or 2080, would be assassinated. I more or less have accepted the idea, I have to admit with no small amount of guilt. And I imagine even Mr. Obama accepts the idea that he may be killed, but will serve to make it possible that the Second Black President could live to see the end of his term.
As much as I’d like to believe that race doesn’t play a major role in the vote, I have earned the confidence of enough people (myself included) to know how large a role race plays from the most menial to the most important decisions that can be made. Barack Obama will win the election by the sheer extraordinary magnitude of President Bush and Senator McCain’s incompetence, Barack and Michelle Obama’s like will be constantly at threat, and Joe Biden is more likely to end up as the President than Sarah Palin. I don’t wish this to occur in the least, but I honestly do expect it to. And it saddens me to no end that America, and the world, remains so racist to its core, and that our best coping method is to act as if the world is a bit less racist than it really is.
… and the cow goes moo
Small additional comment that is so obvious it doesn’t deserve to be in the post: I hope we all know what accompanies a global economic slowdown? Race is going to become a BIGGER issue in the future, as we devolve from rich mean people to poor mean people. Drain some water out of the pond and people start getting uncomfortable with their neighbours. And the commonalities and mysteries of race will be brought to the fore.
Society as you see it today may be at its most racially understanding for the next four years.
… the metacow
[...] have a slightly more recent related post here also related to Barack Obama and the virulent racism that some possess against him, even on the [...]