Showing the Obama Love

We mustn’t assume that a person will vote for Obama just because the person is Black. I think that’s a racist assumption. One of my business colleagues is a talented artist and a perfectly intelligent Black man who plans to vote for McCain because he (my colleague) is a die-hard conservative, is strongly opposed to abortion for any reason, has always voted Republican, and always will vote Republican come hell or high water. I will not comment on that logic. I have to say that I was disappointed to learn of his leanings, but this did remind me not to make assumptions. That said, I know that for the vast majority of Black folks in the country, Obama is the change for which they have waited for at least 300 years. Although Obama is biracial, meaning half Black and half Caucasian, he looks Black, and our culture views him as Black because he has more than a drop of Black blood. For most Black folks, that half Black is plenty, it’s a dream come true. (One comedian recently said he is voting for the white half of Obama.) I read a story this morning about an 84-year-old Black woman living in the South who suffered a massive heart attack. She was rushed to the hospital and they managed to save her life. The first words she uttered to her family when conscious and once again coherent were, “Get me an absentee ballot NOW!” I must share with you this photo, which says it all about what Obama means to most of the Black community.