This is my response to someone near and dear to me who recently proclaimed that he can't vote for Obama because he's "not fond of whites or America either" based on his associations with Rev. Wright, that Ayers guy and an incident when he didn't put his hand over his heart during the national anthem.
Dear One,
First, I can understand why this information is concerning, taken out of context and amplified by conservative media types with no journalistic integrity (FOX news, etc.). And I don't claim that Obama has never made any errors in judgment or associated with people who speak their truths a bit more plainly than we are used to hearing. I just want to challenge you to dig a little deeper about these issues before completely throwing your vote away. The Ayers thing is ridiculous - that's like me being held responsible for something done by one of my associates on one of the boards I sit on, or one of my organization's donors. It is being harped on by the McCain Campaign and FOX because they have nothing else, and they're getting desperate.
The Wright thing is more complicated. I actually think black people have good cause to be distrustful and angry toward white people. As a white, Christian man you don't have any experience with oppression - you are a member of the "ruling class," and while you may not personally be oppressing anyone, you are reaping the benefits of membership. As a woman, I have slightly less privilege, but still recognize my elevated status as a white, middle class person and the perks it brings. We cannot understand how it feels to be held down for generations. I think there is a lot of righteous anger there - and the solution is to hear it and acknowledge it and move forward toward healing (reparations?), not condemn it. For some people, including many of my friends, the symbols of the country - flags, anthems, etc. - have been use to silence dissension, invade countries we have no business being in, torture political prisoners, and protect the wealth and privilege of the elite - the 20% of Americans who own 92% of the wealth, while those of us in the bottom 80% fight over 8% of the wealth. I know people who I respect enormously who won't "pledge allegiance to the flag" because their allegiance is to values, not symbols. So we are patriots, but not the kind that walks in a lock-step believing everything we read.
The bottom line is that one of these guys is going to be our next president, so it makes sense to me to spend a bit of time finding out which one comes closest to my values. I went to a great seminar last spring by a man who works to end violence, racism, etc - oppression in general. This is an article by him about evaluating candidates based on who benefits from their policy positions: http://www.paulkivel.com/articles/assessingpolicy.pdf
I know you are busy, but if you have a chance to check it out, tell me what you think. You know I'm only having this "discussion" with you because I think you are very, very smart and the US needs smart, analytical young people to engage in the political process, hard and frustrating as it is!
Love you.
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