Is the County Going To Hell In a Handbasket?

Okay...so I am willing to acknowledge that in the grand scheme of things, believe it or not, that this is probably the best country in the world to live in, which in my eyes, is a sad state of affairs.  As a person of color, I often question that.  We are supposed to be the greatest democracy in the world, yet we have a group of conservatives who are willing to go to such extremes to ruin a black president, that they are stooping to new lows that amaze even me.  There’s the voter repression, the voter intimidation, the birthers, the blatant lies, and a recent documentary, “Dreams From My Real Father”, re-introducing Barack Obama's mother, Anne Dunham as a whore and a slut, based on an earlier book and documentary.  That last one totally took me over the edge and prompted this entry.  The republicans are actually sending copies to voters in swing states.  Just when you think they can't get any lower, they top themselves.  Is there no end to what they’ll do to win the election and destroy the president?

It’s times like these that I think of my father, a very handsome, dark-skinned black man, who was once was thrown out of a Woolworth's lunch counter in 1938 in Petersburg, Virginia  while attending then, Virginia Stage College (now Virginia State University) with several friends who could "pass" for white...then I think to myself..."Has much really changed?..."  Sadly, I say, "No."

Take also, the incident where peanuts were thrown at a black camerawoman at this year's republican convention, while the offenders yelled, "This is how we feed the animals!", or a tea partier spitting on Representative Emanuel Cleaver because of the color of his skin.  I still can't believe these types of incidents are happening in 2012.  What is scary is that the right wing fringe, and their racist ilk feel that they now have license to commit these acts that are analogous to Jim Crow.  What’s even scarier is they’re getting away with them.  I believe there is a powder keg brewing, and I often ask myself what will be the incident that makes people of color in this country stand up and say, “I WILL NOT take this anymore!”  Hopefully, the effort, if it comes, will be non-violent and effective.

The rise of the tea party has given rise to an extreme wing of society who, for some reason, feel it's now okay to not only spew, but act on their hatred publicly because we have a bi-racial president (there’s that one drop of black blood), and they don’t like it.  There is nothing more pathetic than seeing a dying demographic of people, who by virtue of hegemony, have benefitted from enormous privilege because of the color of their skin, and who will try to hold on to that privilege by any means necessary.  Fear of losing that privilege means fear that they will be treated the same as they have treated people of color in this country since they involuntarily graced its shores.

I’m seriously considering a move to Canada, particularly if Romney wins, and abandoning a country that I feel doesn't value me as a human being, and which is full of a breed of greedy people who will do whatever it takes to hold onto wealth, power and privilege, at the risk of ruining this country and a president who doesn't look like them.  In modern society, this is a disgrace.

* The terms republican, tea party and birthers have purposely not been capitalized to make a point.