I normally ignore political e-mails. After all, I believe everyone is entitled to his or her beliefs. And I am very comfortable with the ethics of my own political views. Plus, it's so easy to just delete an e-mail.
But then one of my relatives sent this e-mail. And I think it's racist and rude. And he KNOWS I don't agree. Do I just ignore him? Or do I have some moral obligation to call him racist?
"In a few short days, an African American man will move from his private residence into a much larger and infinitely more expensive one owned not by him but by the taxpayers. A vast lawn, a perimeter fence and many well trained security specialists will insulate him from the rest of us but the mere fact that this man will be residing in this house should make us all stop and count or blessings - because it proves that we live in a nation where anything is possible.
Many believed this day would never come. Most of us hoped and prayed that it would, but few of us actually believed we would live to see it. Racism is an ugly thing in all of it's forms and there is little doubt that if this man had moved into this house fifteen years ago, there would have been a great outcry - possibly even rioting in the streets.
Today, we can all be both grateful and proud that no such mayhem will take place.when this man takes up residency in this house.
This man, moving into this house at this time in our nation's history is much more than a simple change of addresses for him - it is proof of a change in our attitude as a nation. It is an amends of sorts - the righting of a great wrong. It is a symbol of our growth, and of our willingness to "judge a man, not by the color of his skin but by the content of his character".
There can be little doubt now that the vast majority of us truly believe that this man has earned both his place in history and his new address. His time in this house will not be easy - it will be fraught with danger and he will face many challenges. I am sure there will be ma ny times when he asks himself how in the world he ended up here and like all who have gone before him, the experience will age him greatly.
But I for one will not waste an ounce of worry for his sake - because in every way a man can, he asked for this. His whole life for the past fifteen years appears to have been inexorably leading this man toward this house. It is highly probable that that in the past, despite all of his actions, racism would have kept this man out of this house. Today, I thank the lord above that I am an American and that I live in a nation where wrongs are righted, where justice matters and where truly anything is possible.
I hope you find it within yourself to except (sic) this Historic event.
Scroll down:-)
[IN THE EMAIL, THERE IS A PICTURE OF OJ SIMPSON HERE]
You thought I was talking about Obama? Sorry."
Sigh. I hate always being the one making trouble, but does he HAVE to send me such dribble?
Etcetera.
6 comments:
I suggest: Tweak the little pieces that need it and send it back to him with Obama's photo.
I would ignore it. You won't change his mind or his attitude and anything you say would just start something you would probably end up wishing never started. Me? I forwarded it to Brendan's football coach. His response? A newspaper clipping of someone painting the white house black. It's a special kind of relationship we have :)
For the record, Stac probably got the same e-mail and Brendan's coach is a black man. Just so my readers can keep up.
My thing is that it's not about changing his mind (you are right about that!). It's about do I have a moral obligation to speak up?
I think you can ask him to stop sending them to you and tell him why. but IMO a moral obligation would come in if he does something racist rather than getting into free speech issues.
did you see that illdoctrine video on how to tell someone they sound racist? it is very good. just in case you missed it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0Ti-gkJiXc&feature=channel_page
Someone I used to know made a habit of sending me this kind of tripe. I ignored it for a long time, and then got fed up. I wrote to him (pulled from my archives): "The odd thing about bigots is that they're simultaneously scared to death of people who aren't like them, and unintelligent enough to be proud of the public displays of hatred that let everyone else know just how scared they are. Now that you've made your beliefs clear on multiple occasions, please don't let your pride get in the way of keeping me out of the loop. I promise not to forget that your fear of Blacks keeps you awake at night." Then I added him to my E-mail blacklist. It may not be practical for you to do such a thing, and it my message may have been needlessly confrontational, but letting such rhetoric go without comment indefinitely is just not in my nature.
The last time I got one of these.. I think I spit a little on the sender...
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