what about race?!

Barak Obama is the new President of the United States. Hooray! Change! History! blah blah blah.

I do support Barak Obama, but I am not naive.
I do support Barak Obama, but I am not a socialist.
I do support Barak Obama, and I am a Christian.
I do support Barak Obama, not JUST because he is black.
I do support Barak Obama, and I don't think he is the messiah.
I do support Barak Obama, not because I am young.
I do support Barak Obama, and I do see his faults.

Ok now that that is off my chest, I feel fine to write.


Some Europeans have a funny way of pointing the finger at everyone else, but never looking at themselves in the mirror. Now, don't get me wrong, we all have the tendency to do it, and I realize that I could fall into that very own fallacy with that first statement, but I want to work this out in my mind. For example, lets talk about Obama's race.

In class, I had the brilliant idea of bringing up the elections and using both John McCain and Barak Obama as the central points of a lesson that would be about American politics, American culture and American history. I decided to have a mock election in the class. Assigning each person in the class a role, I would have them play their character and tell me who they would vote for. Would it be McCain or Obama? Why? I wanted them to read, speak and learn a little bit about the diversity of the United States. To do this, I had some people who would be Mexican immigrants, conservative Christians, poor whites from Kentucky, a former Steel worker, a wealthy banker, a university student, a black man from Los Angeles and a New England Professor. I think I did a fairly decent job of creating some political, social and historical diversity in the class. You must know that it is hard for Europeans, especially ones who live in such a homogenous nation like the Czech Republic, to comprehend the vast amounts of people and diversity that make up the United States. I wanted them to see in a very visceral, tangible way why the American election is always more complicated than it seems from the outside looking in. Because, to most Europeans, Obama should win by 30 percentage points, and if he doesn't, then America is still full of ignorant, racist, egotistical bumpkins: they take it is as proof that we are a backwards nation, because George Bush won two elections in a row and that John McCain actually has more than 40 percent of the American vote.

Class got underway and I instantly stared talking about Republicans and Democrats. Initially, the students were reluctant to express their feelings, but after a few minutes, I was getting them interested enough that they began to ask questions. I did not want the lesson to turn into a lecture, so I brought in the character roles. I gave them each a sheet of paper with their character on it and a small write up about that person's political, cultural and religious background. I told them to read the description and decide who would be the candidate that they would vote for, if they were that person. I went around the room and it worked exactly as I had planned. I had 8 people in class and it was split: 4 for Obama, 4 for McCain. I explained that because our country really runs on a two-party system, that voting is never easy for many people, because what often happens is that Americans vote for a party that they know can't meet all their political and cultural wants.

Many were shocked that our class election ended in a tie. I wanted them to see that people who vote for McCain and the Republicans are not just "stupid" Americans, but they are people who vote, because the Republicans MAKE SENSE to them politically, economically and morally. I was very emphatic about pointing out that Czech voters would the same thing if they only had two parties. They would vote for the party that has the stronger platform for them, even if they do not agree with ALL of the party's political standings. I feel that it was an excellent lesson to show Czechs that even if Obama wins, he will not win by staggering percentages (Electoral College not counted).

Wanting to end the lesson with a small discussion, I asked many who they thought would win. Of course, all of them said Obama was the better candidate, but they were afraid that Americans were too "racist" to vote for a black man as president. Now, this was a shock to me, because I had just had a lesson where I explained that many Americans will not just vote for John McCain because he is white. Do we in America have racial problems? Yes! Are most Americans racist? No. Will there be people who vote against Obama because he is black? Yes, but I believe there are many more who will vote on issues, not on racism. The idea and the stereotype that we Americans are just dumb, ignorant, racists were still coming through in the class. I was mad.

At this point, I could have backed down and swallowed my embarrassment and slunk back into my chair and let them have their opinions, or I could have called their bluff by making them reflect on their own culture. I decided to do the later.

America is not the only place in the world where race is a problem. Here in the Czech Republic, many Czechs will openly share with you their disdain for the Roma minority. They call them lazy, derelicts, criminals and a leech on the social system. I know this, because I have been living here for three months and have heard it quite often. I knew what I was about to say would be hard for them to hear, but it was true. After taking a few minutes to gather myself, I slowly began to tell the class that Americans can be racist, that we have race problems, but I told them that to think Obama won't win because of racist is absurd. Number one, he already beat the most powerful democrat this year, in Hillary Clinton, so who is to say he wouldn't beat the Republicans? But, I didn't even go there. I went straight for the heart of the issue. I began to tell them that America is different. We have our problems, but we have always worked against the old-world order and understanding of things. I told them that I found it kind of hard to believe that some in the class would hold this opinion of American "racist" voters, because we are country poised to have a minority leader. We are no longer talking about equality, we do not give "lip service" to diversity in leadership, no, Barak Obama is black and by the end of the night HE might be the President. I asked them to think of their own country. Would the Egyptians ever have Coptic Christians as their leader? Would the French ever vote in a Black Muslim as their leader? And, here is where it got personal, I said, "Would the Czech Republic, you, ever vote in a Roma as your leader?" Emphatically, I stated "no." I heard audible gasps and I saw some of the students faces: they were shocked that I would say something like that. I had called them to account. Who are the racist voters? Do they only reside in the "ignorant" America, or can they reside in "progressive" Europe? Needless to say, I don't think they will accuse Americans of being a bunch of racists again.

In the end, I did not want to preach American exceptionalism, because this makes me nauseas. No, I wanted them to respect what this election stood for and to attempt to see the American people in a new light, not a "dumb" one.

So, back to the beginning; it is hard to look at one's self in the mirror. America, in many ways, has become the proverbial "fat kid" in the room: it is always easier to blame him for the bad smell than the beautiful blonde in the back. But, things are never as clear as they seem.