These are two recently published photos of controversial images of Democratic Presumptive Presidential Nominee Barack Obama and his wife, Michelle Obama. As one can see, they depict the fears of many racist and uneducated segments of our society. The first depicting Michelle Obama being strung up by her wrists by Ku Klux Klan members and attempting to inflict a brand which reads; "Uppity Liberal". The latter has Senator Obama in the sights of a rifle scope. These images and suggestions are nothing new in our society against blacks but it's the timing of such things, which raise the hairs on the backs of many progressive thinking individuals who are hoping for change in the usual politics. Senator Hillary Clinton, Liz Trotta, Governor Ed Rendel, President George Bush, Bill Clinton and many others have given statements, which have fuelled the race flames during this election. Despite what intentions were given and excuses that were made in defense of these statements, we ALL must be mindful of their possible impacts. Prior to the final delegate counts many older blacks were apprehensive of even voting for Obama as a way of protecting him from harms way. Many stated they would rather see him lose the election than have him harmed by some racist radical with an outdated agenda. However, Barack and Michelle both have discussed these issues amongst themselves and have embraced the larger good this election implies. What we have to do is continue to educate the uneducated and to battle the hate with progress and consistency. We must continue to fight the good fight and defeat the intolerance of those who wish to continue to keep the USA in darkness by becoming a bit more tolerant in our daily lives. We can begin by passing on the Chicago Jedi blog site to all of our friends and asking them to do the same, we can begin by embracing small issues like reading a book by an author with an alternate view, visit a motivational seminar, listen to a controversial radio broadcast, have coffee with a member of the opposite sex. In short, we can learn from one another and with learning we begin to think and with thinking we garner understanding and tolerance.
Peace,
Chicago Jedi 2008
