The Day After

So here we are, a world where the armies of good finally defeated the armies of evil after many years of watching the world get plunged into darkness. And how did the side of light over come the evil clutches of darkness..? With a BLACK MAN!

Now while the new generation is dancing in celebration of the election of the first African American President we have a large percentage of the country plunged into fear. Elderly whites, those who never attended a desegregated school, who grew up hearing tales of of the threat of outright racial warfare are in complete terror. The worst nightmare they have been trained from birth to fear is now manifested in the shape of a well educated, highly qualified man with a plan who just happens to be a bit darker than the 43 Presidents to hold office before him.

Now do not get me wrong. I am not saying we should hold a big pity party for the old established bigots of the nation. I am not saying we should clasp the cold and shaking liver spotted hands in our warm grip of hope and say with a smiling face, "Oh, you're a racist? Isn't that sweet!" NO! I am saying we need to acknowledge that reasonable or unreasonable as it may seem a century and a half after the fall of slavery, a half a century after the civil rights acts, more than 10 years after Doug Williams won the Super Bowl... as preposterous as it might strike us... We have 10s of millions of people that are gripped in absolute fear.

I don't know the answer, but I will bet there is not a reader that comes to this blog that doesn't have at least one family member who feels this way. It is not Republican dogma that controls this fear, it is not concern about taxes. It is a fear of race or skin color. It is still fed by the evening news and nurtured by a lack of direct contact with a real community.

Fueled by tales of Social Service workers and Medical Administrators who only deal with the poorest of the poor. They spread skewed stories of a incomplete demographic as if it were indisputable fact. The gang bangers are in the Whitehouse!

Please be patient. As time passes and the nation sees the leader that emerges, try not to gloat. They grew up in different times with different beliefs. Change is hard. We need to show a little understanding but we also need to continue the movement and shine light on the fears. If we don't stand up and expose the good that will start happening the fear will grow and fester. But we can help. Yes we can.