Politics of Hatred

"We must either love each other or die."
Lyndon B. Johnson expressed deep concern for the politics of war and destruction in the 1964 presidential election cycle. The issue then was nuclear proliferation - a melee of fear, hatred and corruption of power.

We are no longer in a cold war, however hatred and fear still drive politics. The most prevalent source of fear and hatred this cycle surrounds Obama's faith and race. Deep in the heart of America, citizens still use racial epithets to express their fear of an African-American or a Muslim president.



My question is, where are these people getting this? Palin has accused Obama of palling around with terrorists, but neither Palin or McCain has mentioned Obama's faith or race in a negative way.

These people have opportunities to learn the truth about Obama's faith and racial background. But what is keeping them from educating themselves? Is it the chain e-mails that spread rumors of Obama affiliating with terrorists or Islamists, is it the kitchen-table conversations that reaffirm attitudes, or is it coming from churches and schools?

This type of ignorance justifies the existance of the electoral college. So the next time you hear someone complain that our votes don't count in the presidential election, this is the reason why.

In the presidential debate last night, McCain proclaimed his pride for the audience members at each of his rallies, however at a previous event he had to interrupt an audience member who called Obama "Arab."

The McCain campaign has contronted the negative stereotypes of African Americans and Muslims. Last week, Senator McCain even took the microphone away from an audience member and corrected her on her misconceptions of Obama.



I have heard many people say that America just "isn't ready for a Black president." But it is this defeatest attitude that enables ignorance and hatred to spread. It is this ignorance and hatred that leads to violence, terrorism, destruction and death. So what if these people are just few in number. Perhaps they don't represent such a large number that would cause alarm. However, every storm is made of individual rain drops. One prejudice leads to another and the fear spreads quickly. From Obama's early entry into the campaign to less than 20 days to the general election, groups of Americans still attack his faith and ethnicity, still express fear of his faith and ethnicity. If nothing else, time has proven that ignornace and hatred is stubborn and a force to be dealt with, even in 2008.

Supreme Court Justice, Oliver Wendel Holmes prolifically said, "The remedy for bad speech is more speech." My call to action for readers of this blog is to take the lead of Holmes, McCain, Barack and even J.C. himself, and counter such ignorant statements from your classmates, neighbors and even your grandparents. The first step to stopping this cycle of ignorance and hatred is with you and your words.