Victory is not a color
Last night, as the election results came in, I was aware of something that disturbed me. During the entire campaign it was made clear that the race card was “off limits”. It was off limits to the media and citizens alike. I believe for the most part that understanding was adhered to as it should be.
What surprised me was the fact that as soon as it was obvious that Sen. Obama had won the media (NBC, ABC, CBS, CNN and MSNBC) ALL began referring to him as the “Black” president elect. One network even made the statement that black people had “have finally elected one of their own”.
I find this type of “color coverage” offensive. This type of coverage suggests that ALL black people voted for Sen. Obama. It also suggests that white people are simply being ALLOWED to be included in this “black” victory instead of recognizing that ALL races worked very hard to get this man elected.
My hope would be that the media stop referring to him as the “black” president and acknowledge a more accurate portrayal of the truth. That Sen. Obama is half black. The other half is white.
Sen. Obama is not the first black president. He is the first half black, half white president. No race owns him or has more right over another race to celebrate his victory.
I hope the media curtails this kind of coverage, stops verbally dividing us by race and joins in the effort to heal and move forward.
We were asked to be color blind during the campaign, let’s ALL continue to do so now.
who is tibet's blog | login to post comments
|
