Of course, it's not about race...
My brother is working for the Obama campaign in North Carolina. He has just been handed a new county. In his old county he had to deal with flagrant racism and segregation, open hostility and even having folks approach and threaten black voters after he talked to them. A colleague had a gun pointed at both her and the voters she was talking to at the time. In his new county, he has thus far seen...
- The NRA handing out pamphlets detailing how Obama plans to ban firearms in America.
- People who claim to be with the McCain campaign distributing information about Obama's supposed terrorist ties.
- People who claim to be with the McCain campaign "registering" voters and telling people that they can't vote if they're using food stamps/disabled/any number of other things.
- People threatening voters verbally and through pamphlets and tearing Obama-related promotional items out of yards, cars and windows.
For the upper-middle-class white folks like me, voting is simple, easy and free. I don't have any concerns about the actions my neighbors may take under suspicion that I supported the wrong person. I have nothing to lose by voting my mind, or by choosing to go near a voting booth on election day. It is worth taking just a moment out of my hectic day however to recognize that for a substantial portion of the population voting this year will endanger their lives or the well-being of their loved-ones or property. It is not enough to sit by and bemoan the state of things. I would not forgive myself for failing to help on some level, in this last few weeks. This is not a passive process. McCain will be launching a slew of negative ads in the coming days, as he has saved most of his money for the last month of the campaign.
Here is how you can do something, since simply voting and putting up placards is not enough:
http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php
I'm not prone to drama, but this will define America hereafter. We are either a people who refuse to let fear control us and criminality lead, or we are a people for whom even hope is not enough.
I hope that you will join me in this.
- The NRA handing out pamphlets detailing how Obama plans to ban firearms in America.
- People who claim to be with the McCain campaign distributing information about Obama's supposed terrorist ties.
- People who claim to be with the McCain campaign "registering" voters and telling people that they can't vote if they're using food stamps/disabled/any number of other things.
- People threatening voters verbally and through pamphlets and tearing Obama-related promotional items out of yards, cars and windows.
For the upper-middle-class white folks like me, voting is simple, easy and free. I don't have any concerns about the actions my neighbors may take under suspicion that I supported the wrong person. I have nothing to lose by voting my mind, or by choosing to go near a voting booth on election day. It is worth taking just a moment out of my hectic day however to recognize that for a substantial portion of the population voting this year will endanger their lives or the well-being of their loved-ones or property. It is not enough to sit by and bemoan the state of things. I would not forgive myself for failing to help on some level, in this last few weeks. This is not a passive process. McCain will be launching a slew of negative ads in the coming days, as he has saved most of his money for the last month of the campaign.
Here is how you can do something, since simply voting and putting up placards is not enough:
http://my.barackobama.com/modules/votercontact/login_signup.php
I'm not prone to drama, but this will define America hereafter. We are either a people who refuse to let fear control us and criminality lead, or we are a people for whom even hope is not enough.
I hope that you will join me in this.