I sent the message below out to my neighboorhoods yahoo group after we witnessed a disturbing even in our neighborhood. I would love to hear your thought on this:
What I want to know is what would happen in this neighborhood if a white kid paraded around the neighborhood in an Oboma mask screaming at cars as they drove by saying “McCain, McCain, McCain, don’t vote for the black dude” while at the same time the kids parents and friends were standing around the house laughing their butts off. How would you feel about that? I would hope that you would be outraged and for good reason. That type of display is both racist and offensive.
Well we witnesses something just as offensive today. A young black child was dressed up in a McCain mask and screaming at cars as they drove by saying “Oboma, Oboma, Oboma, don’t vote for the old white dude” as his family and friends stood around the house laughing their butts off.
We did not feel that it was our place to put a stop to this, however, we were shocked, not so much by what the young man was doing, but that the adults that were watching were not only laughing about it, but encouraging him. I wounder how these same adults would feel if we had done the same but in reverse? I’ll bet they would not be so accommodating.
In this time in our country’s history where so much of what is going on has people on the edge already something like this is not only offensive but potentially dangerous. We don’t need this sort of thing not now, not ever. I personally don’t have a problem with someone making fun of either candidate in an appropriate setting, but there are some that would take great issue with this and it could start a problem that none of us want to see. As adults we have to be more responsible, especially when children are involved. if you like one candidate over another that is fine and you should feel free to tell your children who you are voting for and why. But you should also be teaching your children how to be respectful of others, especially those that they disagree with.
Despite what popular culture and the news media may tell us, the world is not going to come to an end no matter who gets in office. The biggest threat to our nation is not who our next leader might be but what will become of us if we cannot learn to live with each other in the good times and the bad. That all starts with being a good neighbor.
