I am an American

I am not usually one that comments or has discussions about controversial subjects, such as politics, but yesterday our country voted in a new president, which has made me ponder much about my feelings concerning the matter. Let me preface my thoughts with the fact that I do not consider myself prejudiced, I have never been, nor do I ever intend to be. Also, I am a true AMERICAN through and through. My mom and dad became naturalized American citizens in the 60’s after moving here from Canada. My dad, especially, was very proud of being an American. I remember him tearing up every time he heard the national anthem. I think I inherited my pride for America from him. However, both of my parents were very prejudiced—I’m not sure why, but they were, even though they didn’t always admit it. I remember my mom always referring to blacks as “colored.” I would then ask her, “What color are they—pink, yellow, brown, red, blue?” She would get irritated with me. I think one reason why I am not prejudiced is because both of my parents were, and I hated that characteristic about them.

With that being said, I would like to discuss my take on the latest election. Yesterday, I spent 14 hours at our precinct polling place as an election judge. It was refreshing to see people come in to exercise their right to vote without being subject to the constant negative campaigning from both sides. As an election judge, you cannot discuss political preferences or have political discussions, even though we did know that only one of our judges was democrat. You have to have both major parties represented at each precinct. I was working next to a delightful little 75 year old black lady, who was our only democrat. I had no idea how she voted; I only know that she was as disgusted as I was with all of the negative campaigning. We talked about religion, we talked about families, we talked about education…she was wonderful. So, when I got home, and started watching the election returns on TV, I knew that my candidate had lost, and that we had elected the first “African American” president in our country’s history. I did not vote against him because of his color, but because I felt that his values did not reflect mine. Regardless of that, now that he is our president elect, my question is… Why do we have to keep referring to blacks as “African Americans?” I do not refer to myself as a Norwegian American, or a Hungarian American, or a Canadian American, or even a Caucasian American. I am only an AMERICAN. So why can’t African Americans just call themselves Americans like the rest of us? And why is it when a white American has something negative to say about an African American or Hispanic individual, we are considered racist? But if a black person does the same about a white person, they are not considered racist? I would certainly hope that now that we have elected a black president that the black community will stop thinking that they have it any worse than the rest of us. If anything good comes out of this election, I hope that we can now become a nation of diversified citizens all becoming merely AMERICANS and working together for the common good of our country.

My next reflection is about this country of ours being founded upon Christian values, including the sanctity of life. That is very important to me as a Christian, and I have difficulty supporting someone who does not respect those values. I will respect the office of the President of the United States, not necessarily the individual who holds that office. I don’t think any of us really know enough about the man to know what will happen after he takes office. That’s a little scary to me. I certainly hope that Mr. Obama will listen to the citizens of this great country of ours. I will continue to pray in his behalf and for those individuals who work with him.