Racist Aftermath

Barack Obama

Click to read about a store in Maine that places bets on Obama's assassination

Frankly, I wish I were more surprised about this than I am. One of my first thoughts when I heard Obama was elected, aside from the elation that we now have a president elect that I respect and admire and trust, was a concern that some crazy nut-job would want to assassinate him. I expressed this fear to my husband even as we were watching Obama give his acceptance speech.

Part of the reason I felt this fear (overlooking the obvious factor that I am a complete worry wart who will obsess about anything - just ask my husband) is the amount of hope and joy that the election of Barack Obama has brought to so many Americans, and specifically so many African Americans. Before the election we were all hush-hush about the issue of race because 1) liberals didn't want the Bradley effect hurting Obama's chances and 2) conservatives didn't want to appear prejudiced by playing the race card. But wow! After Obama won, in a surprisingly short amount of time, the fact that we have an African American president elect became huge overnight news - as well it should have.

Another reason I felt this fear is that Obama reminds me of so many great charismatic leaders in American history who, you guessed it, have been assassinated: JKF, MLK, and Lincoln to name a few. Obama also aligns himself with these kinds of leaders, quoting from MLK and Lincoln in his speeches. Granted, I love the fact that our country has a young, intelligent, liberal, revolutionary (somewhat) leader. But this also reminds me that for all the good he has to offer, there are people in this crazy world who would love to snuff out this hope for our country.

This shop keeper in Maine is just one example - I am sure there are many more. He's just one person who was stupid enough to put up a sign saying "Let's place bets on the assassination of Obama - and hope it happens." How many other freaky racist right-wing fundamentalist nuts are there out there who aren't going to say anything, but secretly plot something? The thought of this scares me. Not just for the loss of human life involved, but for the sake of our country, and all the hopes of countless people that would be crushed. I think loss of hope is one of the most dreadful things - and this is why Obama is so good for our nation; he brings us hope at a time when we need it the most!