Does Uncle Santiago Not Like Black People?

[Santiago]

Thought I would share this story to illustrate what many are probably facing.

First off, I am a Latino community activist and I have championed civil rights since the 60's. That being noted, before the Super Tuesday vote, my sister was having a political conversation with her 18 yo daughter about who they were going to vote for in the Oklahoma primary. My niece said she liked Obama. When my sister told her that her uncle Santiago was a big time Hillary supporter, my niece asked a chilling question, "Why, Does Uncle Santiago Not Like Black People?" When my sister related that story to me, I was stunned. The reasons I am supporting Hillary are legion and are well represented on this site. My sister explained to her that my support was based on sound reasoning and historical perspective. But this story illustrates a real and present issue. If I, a person of color, feel this way, what do others see and feel?

[memphis]

Not voting for Obama has nothing to do with his color. Only his beliefs, his experience, his actions.
That question, not liking black people, because one is not voting for Obama, does not compute. People that think like that really can't reason out something in a logical way. They think with their feelings and that is it.

[Artists4Hillary]

Racism has been the biggest issue. The issue is all over the place, and the young are hyped up about it. My daughter is almost 18, and she is for Hillary. She knows that there is racism and bigotry against many groups of people. My husband is Aregentinian, so she has an understanding. We have had a discussion about how hard women have fought for rights, and she sees Hillary as a role model. Young women take for granted that everything has always been this way. They don't have an understanding of history before they were born. Even Hillary said they ( and Chelsea) grow up taking this for granted.

I think if she is taught the history and the bigotry other groups face, and if it is pointed out what Hillary stands for, on the issues and as the greatest role model for young women, she might see it differently.

Those who don't have a knowledge of history before they were born, will not understand where they are going. ( that's just my little saying).

[Sandy in PA]

Santiago--I think that has a lot to do with what the kids are exposed to on sites like MySpace, YoutTube, Facebook and blogs. Its scary out there and I'm sure it carries over into school. What it stems from is race baiting. I've seen it on sites. If a black person says they aren't voting for Obama, 100s of other blacks jump down their throats and accuse them of being traitors and wanting to be white (just not in such polite words). I'm sure a teenager of any race reading that sort of thing in the online world that they are accustomed to communicating in translates that in some way to it being the way things really are - meaning if you don't like Obama, you must be a bigot. The whole online Obama following, though, was engineered by the Obama campaign to attract these young kids. So, what they are seeing online is actually rather sad.

I also think it translates into their offline worlds. There are kids at my son's high school who would not want to tell the Obama supporters that they don't like him and these aren't even kids of voting age. But - it stems from what they've gotten online about him, which really is the basis for all this support he gets from kids, and from how they have seen people treated if they say they don't support him.

[SD]

Santiago--I think that has a lot to do with what the kids are exposed to on sites like MySpace, YoutTube, Facebook and blogs. Its scary out there and I'm sure it carries over into school. What it stems from is race baiting. I've seen it on sites. If a black person says they aren't voting for Obama, 100s of other blacks jump down their throats and accuse them of being traitors and wanting to be white (just not in such polite words). I'm sure a teenager of any race reading that sort of thing in the online world that they are accustomed to communicating in translates that in some way to it being the way things really are - meaning if you don't like Obama, you must be a bigot. The whole online Obama following, though, was engineered by the Obama campaign to attract these young kids. So, what they are seeing online is actually rather sad.

I also think it translates into their offline worlds. There are kids at my son's high school who would not want to tell the Obama supporters that they don't like him and these aren't even kids of voting age. But - it stems from what they've gotten online about him, which really is the basis for all this support he gets from kids, and from how they have seen people treated if they say they don't support him.


i agree. it is sad. look how quickly it took for obama/wright to throw out the baby with the bath water.

he "talks unity", claims to be "the new messiah that will bring unity", and all he has done is tear unity to pieces. and blames the clintons while he has done it.


it will take a long time to undo the harm and damage obama/wright has done.