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The more posts I see about how bad (scary, socialist, egotistical, you fill it in) that Barack Obama is the more I am convinced I was right in the first place. Racism is alive and well in the US.
There are two kinds of racism: individual and systemic. Many white people have left individual racism behind without understanding that systemic racism hides - as evil in “high places” - behind PC language and racial profiling, behind quotas and failed programs that we silently condone (or, maybe, scream madly about) but do not change.
If white people do not speak out against the triple evils: racism, poverty and war, we are racist (not because of what we do to the black guy at work) but because we do not really care if the playing field is level.
Too many of us want to put the cart before the horse. First we must level the playing field, then we can compete. As long as we continue to compete on a field that is slanted, white people (as a group, not necessarily individuals) will always win. Winning, whether planned or not, merely due to the color of one’s skin, is racism. And white people are still winning.
Republicans scream “socialist” many times a day, when speaking of Obama. And yet, they never come up with a better way to level the field (and thus, fight racism) than the Democrats have. How will we level the economic field without some kind of redistribution of wealth? Republicans never suggest an alternative; they simply ignore this issue and pretend matters will correct themselves, over time. They won’t, just as racism won’t just go away, if we stop talking about it.
Are there certain tasks black people must perform for themselves rather than asking all of us to do them? Of course. What has that to do with white people fighting racism?
Republicans want to talk “policy.” And yet all they do is try to blemish a good man’s character. This is “trying to make people afraid.” How is it “nasty” to say what blacks have been saying since the times of slavery? It’s “nasty,” because Barck Obama is running for the President of the United States of America. That’s why. How dare a black man have the audacity to do so! And with such hope. Such forward thought.
How many times have I heard someone say they are “afraid” of Obama? Well, to conquer fear, we must face it. The US is a nation that was conceived in racism and needs to purge racism from her being. Fighting racism, poverty and war is great way to establish peace.
Voting for Obama is a perfect opportunity to begin the fight against those triple evils.
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Please note: It was not necessary to say one ugly thing about the Republican candidate to write this post. I didn’t even mention his name. 
Words are important. Without them our actions lose meaning. And without meaning we cannot live. Words can offer perspective, insight, understanding, and vision. Words can bring consolation, comfort, encouragement and hope. Words can take away fear, isolation, shame, and guilt. Words can reconcile, unite, forgive, and heal. Words can bring peace and joy, inner freedom and deep gratitude. Words, in short, can carry love on their wings. A word of love can be the greatest act of love. That is because when our words become flesh in our own lives and the lives of others, we can change the world.
Jesus is the word made flesh. In him speaking and acting were one.
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