Feeling BetterI have to tell you that I worry for Obama, part of the package of hope I carry for him. While it was a resounding political victory, I am reminded that it could have gone differently. The economic meltdown definitely helped Obama shine in the public eye. If the collapse had held off until after the election, would this all be happening? It's not for me to say.
I can feel the possibilities whispering in my ear, shouting from my soul. The sobering reality that Prop 8 looks like it's winning shows the power of fear that still exists in our society. I guess what I usually do at a time like this is quote T. S. Eliot.
I said to my soul, be still, and wait without hopeLet us dance into the future.
For hope would be hope for the wrong thing; wait without love,
For love would be love of the wrong thing; there is yet faith
But the faith and the love and the hope are all in the waiting.
Wait without thought, for you are not ready for thought:
So the darkness shall be the light, and the stillness the dancing.
3 comments:
One obstacle at a time, Geoff. An African-American was elected President; 50 years ago Jim Crow laws prevented Blacks from sharing the same water fountain! I'm sad, too, that Prop 8 passed. But that wall will one day fall,as well.
As my daughter's African American boyfriend told a friend on the phone last night. 'Yes, man we won. Now it's time to show the world we deserve it by getting off the corner and getting a job.'
Ruth
Obama's election is a result of high turnout from his support groups: Latinos, African-Americans, under 30s, and educated whites.
Prop 8 support came from white evangelicals, conservatives, Catholics, homophobes, African Americans, and, to a lesser extent, Latinos. This drips with heartbreaking irony.
In LA County, Obama won by more than a million votes (almost 70%). However, Prop 8 wins LA with 50.4%. Evidently, lots of Obama voters also supported 8. So, before we celebrate the great Obama victory as a Messianic event, let us not forget that there is still much education that needs to occur with those who ought to be more favorable to another oppressed group.
Government has no place in the bedroom. Shit does not have to roll down hill.
To a lesser extent, this same phenomenon also occurred in SF. Obama did better there than No on 8.
Mark
who is straight but has gay married friends who worry about losing health care benefits, state tax breaks, and the other "benefits" of marriage.
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