Some Americans are Afraid of Change…

I knew this moment would come, but I certainly did not expect it to arrive as soon as it did.

Lying in bed while surfing the internet to feed my addiction to celebrity gossip, I happened to glance up at the television.  The CW 11 News was on and I heard them mention a New Jersey family.  I smiled a little, remembering my friend Condy likes to call New Jersey “the armpit of New York” (no offense to New Jersey residents).  But my smile quickly disappeared as I heard why this family was being featured.  I watched as they produced a charred cross wrapped in their homemade sign congratulating President-Elect Barack Obama for his win.  Someone went into their yard, took down their sign, wrapped it around this wooden cross, and set it ablaze in their front yard.

This is 2008.  Not 1964, but 2008.  Is this really what it’s going to come to America?  Are we returning to an era to fight once more for civil rights we’re naturally entitled to because there are people afriad of change?  This family lives in an area heavily populated by Republicans – one that McCain won during the election.  So who should I blame?  Should I blame the Republican Party as whole?  Of course not, there were many Republicans who voted for Obama.  But just because some of them voted, does that not mean that I blame them?  Is that not the equivalent if, when met with questions of racism, you say, “I can’t be racist, my best friend is black?”

Let’s take a moment to consider it people…if George Bush had been successful in all his endeavors, if the war in Iraq was a good idea, Bush had captured both Sadam and Bin Laden, and the economy were thriving, would Barack Obama have been elected?  Would the country really be ready for all this change they are referring to?  As an African-American woman, I realize that everything must be taken with a grain of salt in this land of the free and home of the brave.  I truly believe in Barack Obama, more so than I do in John McCain.  I believe in his ability to take this country to multiple levels of success.  I voted for the man!  But what about those people who didn’t vote for McCain because they were tired of the Republican era?  Are they ready for this change or was it merely the lesser of two evils?  What about the staunch Republicans who voted for McCain?  Are they willing to accept this change?  As we can see from this New Jersey family, some are not.

I can hear some people now: “This black woman is complaining.  Black people are always complaining.”  But that is far from it.  I am bringing to light what some people only whisper in their homes.  I am afraid for Barack Obama, I am afraid for his family.  What about the more powerful individuals who aren’t ready to accept this change?  Will they burn a cross on the white house lawn or will it be worse?  We need to come together as a country to expose to the naysayers that this change is promising, this change is beneficial, and this change is real.

*alet alecia*