The reason I am glad Obama won!!
 

This may seem shallow to some of you, but please, for a minute, try and invision where I live and what MY kids have gone thru and you will see why Obama winning was EVER so important in MY world. This may be a bit lenghty, be patient, it's worth it.

We were trying to buy a house, as some of you will know, a few years ago and I lost it. The idiot selling it to me started working me over, but it turned out to NOT be such a bad thing.....

I was sitting at my computer one day and my son, now 15 but was only 7 at the time, came in from school and walked straight up to me just as serious as the day is long and asked me, "Mom, why are we supposed to hate brown people?"

Shocked out of my mind, I stopped what I was doing, took him downstairs and asked him what on earth he was talking about and WHO told him about this. He said his teacher at school had told him and this teacher's son, who was his friend, told him this. Appauled, as I have always taught my kids to NEVER ever judge by the color of one's skin, but by the individual, and here it was testing me, and my family. I had to move carefully and think quickly because I didn't want my son being mistreated in school when he went and defended this, but at the same time, I WANTED Him to defend it in a small way. I knew this county I lived in was insanely racial, but it hadn't hit MY family to this date so I thought it wasn't so bad as rumors I had heard.

Anyway, I talked to him and reiterated what I had always taught them and explained that anyone that thought differently was shallow and didn't know any better. That little boy, who was his friend, had only been taught to hate and it was up to us SMART people to teach them otherwise and correct them in a nice way so as not to make the little boy feel bad, and that's JUST what he did....... THAT little boy got it and all was well, but my son came home with a black eye because another little boy overheard it and him and my son got in a huge fight about it. He broke the other little boy's nose and was quite proud of himself for standing up for his "brown" friend.

We moved away from that county within a month and he soon made a friend I think he'll have for life, he is biracial and Rally asks me often if he will always have a tough time of things because of it, he loves this friend and these two are thick as thieves.... they are insanely close and I think they'd die for each other, I honestly think this. BOTH are very good boys with huge hearts.

Cut to tonight.... my son stayed up with me and he listened and took in EVERY single word of this election coverage.. and he looked at me and said "Mom", as he hugged me like he hasn't in 5 years... "You were right, brown people are JUST as good as we are and now the rest of the world sees it too, just like we do" and I don't think I have ever been so proud of my son in his whole little young life.

It proved to MY son that it doesn't matter what color your skin is, if you want something and you want it badly enough, people will see it and respond to it, and they did....... by a landslide, they did.

I didn't cast MY vote for Obama because of his color, but because of what he stands for, what he makes US WANT to stand for and what it means to MY children to know that you can come from NOTHING, regardless of what color you are, what status you started out with, or anything else, you CAN be and DO anyting you set your sites on IF you want it bad enough..... and the world WILL respond to you!!

I told you it would be long and I hope you get what I am trying to say...... and WHY this election meant so much to me and why it totally engulfed me in the manner in which it did.

YES WE CAN!!

Beautiful story Tam, here's to Obama!!! Cheers!

Congrats to the winners.

Tam, if you don't mind, can I copy/paste this story and post it on my high school forum. That was a beautiful post. Thanx!

Sure, that would be fine with me. Thank you, I appreciate the kind words. Few things can move me like my kids can. :thumbsup

asians will own you all one day bitches.

excellent post

Yes, you did it!!!

Thanks from France... once again...

Awesome story! I can totally relate! :thumbsup It's always a awesome feeling when your kids get "it"! :thumbsup I've been having similiar moments with my son lately!

Tam. thanks for sharing such a beautiful story ... you should clone those boys! :thumbsup I was so proud when I watched President elect Barrack Obama's speech! American's can be proud you made history today, and showed you really are the land of the free and home of the brave! :thumbsup:

Very nice story.

Thanks for posting it :thumbsup

For 8 years everyone has been laughing at your president! I guess that will stop now! Congrats with a new president!

What can "brown" do for you?

This is real good one I have seen for a long time on this forum.

This world needs to be changed and for the better. We can't afford racism any longer. All people whether white, black or brown need to come close and save this world from the people like Bush and McCain.

Let me guess this straight - your 15 year old son calls african americans 'brown people' ?

and yet your 15 year old boy reffer to them as "brown people" ?

McCain racist? did you check his family picture?

Dude, they ARE brown. Soon you'll tell me that calling someone blue-eyed is racist too... Get a fucking grip, people!

lol you all will see.. this is yet another step in the country going down the shitter... enjoy the show!

Congrats! :D

Well yes at the age of 7 he did. MY kids didn't know color until that day.. and the little boy that was talking to him about this didn't use the word brown, they used "the n word". Not sure where he came up with the word brown from it, but at 7, who ever knows.

Anyways, thanks for all the kind words.

And for whoever said the world was going down the shitter? Tell me what now will have to do any different than the last 8 years have been, it can only go SO far down, you know. lol

No offence, but there is something wrong with people when they on one hand preach Racial equality and civil rights, and on the other hand still generalise people based on their skin-color. They are either stupid or racist - take your pick. Im fairly sure most Americans dont call themselves "black, brown or white American" but just "American". Maybe they should start doing the same when they speak of their fellow American citizen

The day you elect a president and dont even mention his ethnicity, religion or sex, then you have something to celebrate. But that wont happen, especially not in the US where the hate, Religious segregation and racism is such a big part of your daily life. First you discriminated the Indians, then blacks and now the Mexicans

That fake "look at me, I'm white but voted for a black guy so I cant be racist" bullshit makes me sick. Unity my ass...

Very well put and I couldn't agree with you more.

And it is insanely hard to bring children up not to see color when the world around them does.... it just makes me crazy. My family and my husband's family were all born pretty much in the south and racism was always a part of both of our lives as kids growing up, and we have tried so hard to NOT let it be a part of our kids and who they grow up to be. But WOW, it isn't easy when everyone around them see this and bring it to the forefront of their little minds, and at such a young age.

It's TAUGHT..... bottom line.

american teachers ftw

I agree that labelling someone based on ethnicity, religion, sexual preference or whatever is wrong. HOWEVER, that doesn't change their ethnicity, religion, sexual preference or whatever. Thus people shouldn't get their fucking panties in a bunch every time someone speaks of some other guy's skin color being brown. That's like getting mad because someone mentions water being wet ffs...

great story and no I did not vote for obama but living in a area with huge amount of obama supporters what has me worried is they really trust him like god whereas all their problems are solved, yes he means well but how long before people notice that nice speeches will not pay their rent or put food in their childrens mouth, now mccain wouldnt be able to do anything either but at least he didnt have everyones hopes up to some crazy extreme.

Peoples hope are so high in NYC its amazing but what happens when reality kicks in?

The current problems we have such as housing will take time to solve regardless who would of won the election and the unemployment issue will not be fixed anytime soon, last night for the first time in his speech he said that one term might not be enough well at least hes bringing a bit of reality back.

As far as skin color goes at least in NYC I can tell you that if you dress like a thug even if your a white kid you wont get a job or be let into a high end club, my point is skin color at least in NYC where blacks and whites live side by side isnt a issue to must, now if you act and walk and talk like a idiot and u happen to be black obviously youll have problems but so would a white kid.

Yup, and that's what I have always told my kids, if you want to be respected you have to earn it and acting the part of an idiot, thug or badass does NOT get you respect. That they can be respected without being a pushover or a badass.... if you want to be respected and taken seriously you have to act and be the part and then you will EARN it, it isn't just given to you. I put it to them like this: if you want something, you PAY for it, regardless if it is physical, status or whatever, you want it, first you pay for it and then you will get it.

As far as Obama being our Savior or God, nope, I don't even for a minute think that.... however, in comparison with the other end of the voting, he is just about that. To me, with McCain so up Bush's ass, I can't see the next 4 years as having been muich different than our last 8 years which I can almost surely bet that not one person was happy with THAT world.

What people need to get is that we didn't get thrown into this new world mess overnight and we certainly aren't going to get out of it overnight.

I'll be the first to tell you, and I don't care who really knows it, we struggle, we live check to check and hand to mouth, 8 years ago making what I make now had me in a very good position, but today we struggle and we struggle pretty bad. Everything has gone thru the roof and we have 2 less people in my home than we did then, but we struggle more. And I have health issues, as does my husband, but can't get insurance to cover a damn thing because the cost is insane..... so we have to pay for everything to do with meds and expenses out of pocket and it isn't cheap.

So seeing him as a Savior? I can kind of get why some people might think Obama is that savior, I, however, do not see him this way. I see him as a change that very well could mean good for us, and that's the hope I hold out on. Basically though, as it can always get better, it certainly can't get a WHOLE hell of a lot worse in this case. lol

Tam,

Did you talk to your son's teacher?
I would fucking drag that teachers ass into fucking court..

Btw, sad and good story at the same time.. I'm glad Obama is black as it may open some people's eyes.
I am married to a Muslim woman..you won't believe the racial crap she had to go trough and sad enough even from her "own" people..

I talked to her, but it was like trying to talk to the wall, we just moved the hell away from there. And when I was asked why we were moving when I went in to sign the papers for the release of their records, I did tell them why we were leaving, and they didn't even blink an eye, which I should have known.

That same teacher's oldest son would bully my oldest son daily and we didn't connect the two for awhile, but then he found out this was the same teacher. I called her on this one too and what she basically said to me in so many words was, "I'll talk to him, but your son needs to buck up"... I don't remember her exact words on this, but it was basically that. You can fight a lot of things, but ignorance isn't one of them. Best to just leave them to figure shit out for themselves and hope and pray they do, because you won't change their minds no matter how many lashings you hand out.

It makes me sick to watch people treat others like shit just because they are or live a certain way. I guess I have been guilty of it to some degree over time, but not to a point of being just cruel or mean to them. Maybe a slang thing or something as a joke, I think we have all done that to some degree, so I am not perfect by NO means, but in a serious thought, I don't categorize people and I hate watching others do it.

I've been down here for over two years now, SE Louisiana, and it really took me a while to embrace and figure that out. Its been difficult, but nobody wants to hear my So Cal libertarian views down here. It sucks, but I had to break away and tell myself to keep my mouth shut, and just realize I will not live here forever. No conversations about politics, religion, or anything too controversial about society. I keep my mouth shut, and it isn't always easy. Everyone is mostly pro-life, and they think marijuana if legalized would ruin society while they stir in their alcoholic delusions. I think the twisted nature of this place is even something that intrigues me, but they'd want to burn my ass if they knew the real cherrylula.

Its really a shame, because I really do like a lot of things about living here. We don't have kids yet, but I tell myself if we do make one, we have to plan to get them out of here well before junior high age because there is no way we can instill our liberal views in a child here and expect them to grow up all fine and dandy and fit in. Never gonna happen. It scares the hell out of us!

Congrats to you and your children, that is a beautiful story. :)

I can't wait to see how an African American President changes the racial issues down here. There are actually people still crying reparations and some waiting for Katrina aid to get them an apartment (because they think George W Bush hates black people and somehow owes them).

I've seen young black guys in ghetto areas wearing OBAMA t-shirts that have like bling bling looking artwork on them. So I hope that now that he won, they'll actually pay attention to the fact that while he may be African American like them, he is not a thug.

It is amazing how this really is going to create so many changes around the world. It is in itself a reparation.

go USA :1orglaugh

it's too much text so i didn't read it but congrats on the long post, good story from what others are posting :thumbsup

You may wanna rethink the junior high school escape, this happened to my son at the age of 7, he was in the second grade.... so it starts younger and younger these days, seriously.

We have begun looking into other areas to live to be honest. This place here is just about to kill us and it just seems to get worse by the day.

I live in Kentucky and the county we're talking about here still has KKK meetings often, just across the county line about 4-5 miles from where I live NOW. We lived in Government housing a few years ago, right before we started trying to buy the house I mentioned and they could NOT allow a bi-racial couple or a black couple/family to move into that housing area. The couple of times they did allow this, there were people that would literally send them death threats and scare the living hell out of them to the point they moved.

We were driving to the next county and met up with a cop, a few minutes later we seen an interracial couple driving by and I said to my husband, "They will get pulled over before they get to the other side of this county" and sure enough, I no more than got the words out of my mouth and they were being blue lighted and pulled over.

It almost feels like these people are stuck in some time warp and just don't get it. It isn't AS bad in the county I live in, but it's still bad and with the other being SO close, it's just getting more and more sad by the day.

Damn that's crazy. I feel for ya!

Luckily where we live it is about even with the black and white numbers, almost 50/50. It is actually not that bad, but other reasons compound as to why raising a kid here isn't so great.

But you do see stickers on street signs around town like:

"We should have picked our own cotton"

and

"Wake up White People"

I always forget my camera when I see them, I need to snap pics one day.

My deceased Mom's family is in Fulton County KY, where she was born, but I have never met any of them and not in touch. I've seen pics of family reunions though, its not pretty. :1orglaugh

and yeah, I doubt we'll ever breed down here, it seems too complicated. Moving is easier with no kids anyhow.

It's not just a feeling, they actually are stuck in a time warp (and just don't get it).

Nice story and good job of parenting :thumbsup :thumbsup.

I've never really understood how people can be as ignorant as the teacher you mentioned in this post but your post clarified it for me a bit; Its taught too them as youth by their elders. Glad you were maybe able to turn the teachers child for the better. Hopefully he doesn't grow up to be as much of a fool as his parents.


I learned a similar lesson from my father when I was about 8-9 years old. He coached my little league soccer team. We lived in a predominantly white city. On the team we had a little boy who was the child of Indian immigrants. One day my father overheard one of the other boys calling him a Paki. The child was immediately told that was unacceptable and that he was to apologize and he wouldn't be playing in the next game. Needless to say the boys father was none too happy about this and proceeded to berate my father and then he threw a punch. My father cold clocked him and open up the taps on the guys nose :) . The father and child never returned. Then I got the requisite violence doesn't solve anything but sometimes you have to stick up for yourself. Years later in junior high that same kid tried to get payback by sucker punching me but unfortunately for him the end result was the same; I opened up his nose.

Fast forward to today and the end result of those lesson my father taught me as a child is that I have friends of pretty much every race and religion and my life has been much richer because of it.

Touching story Tam.

One question though....

Why does your 15 year old son still call them "brown people?"

Sadly where I live people are still racist. Even though the county I live in is highly democratic Jesus Christ couldn't get elected dog catcher as long as he called himself a republican, Obam only got 41% of the vote. To put that inot perspective Kerry got 55% in 2004 Gore got 59% in 2000. The last time the republican pres candidate got more votes than the dem candidate in my county was in 1968 when the Dixiecrats split the democratic vote. Even in 1980 and 1984 when Carter and Mondale where getting assfucked by Reagan everywhere my county voted overwhelmingly for the Dem ticket. There is only but ONE explanation for Obam only getting 41%. RACISM.

Hell my son's teachers ( he's in 8th grade ) were saying Obama is a muslim. What's really ironic is that I see all kind of mixed babies now because white girls are fucking so many black guys here and these same racists that won't vote for a guy because he's half black actually have half-black grandkids.

Very good read. Tam you should feel proud of the child you have raised :)

That was just what he used last night, I guess he was reflecting on the past conversations, because he doesn't usually do that.... I just took it as him reflecting, that's all. He doesn't call them brown at all anymore. In fact, he rarely ever uses the word black, he just doesn't have that thought process. I can't even recall the last time the word came up at all where he is concerned.

Gotcha. :)