Letter to Obama from 4th Grade Teacher

[reinbeau]

The race card needs to be put away.

Whew! That's a relief! Now I can start ignoring the racial slander I hear in my area and chalk it up to bad habits, slips of the tongue or Freudian oopses. SO GLAD that 1 black president has turned the entire tide of American history. I didn't think I would see it happen so quickly.

Wow, you must live in a backwards, ignorant area. I never hear racist comments here, people here just live - as people. So continue to immerse yourself in racism, and feel so justified in propagating the belief that it's still rampant.

It's as bad as constantly trotting out Bush. He's gone, Obama is black and has been elected President, the race thing is over, and Bush haters do more to pull this country down than he ever thought of doing.

Um, how? I am a Bush despiser. All it makes me do is everything I can to teach my children better, help those around me more, participate more in my own government, and realize the power of government--how much damage actually CAN be done by one man.

So it's ok to teach your children to despise one president, but rail on about those of us who dislike this one? Hmmmm, I see a slight hypocrisy here. Because your children definitely do know you despise Bush, don't even think for a moment they haven't picked that up.

Bush was wrong, but he was just a president, there have been bad presidents before, there will be more, and we will endure the present bad president. It's a process we have to work through. The polarizing is ripping this country apart. The Bush Haters have done more harm to this country than Bush ever thought of doing. Now let's see what happens with the Obama Haters.

 

[Big Daddy]

Now let's see what happens with the Obama Haters.

In 8 months they have done almost as much damage as 8 years of Bush hating. If Obama gets re-elected we'll probably have a civil war. They already have a ton of activity with militia guys playing Army. I'm sure we'll see some more dead militia guys sacrificing themselves and their families for some ill gotten perception of what's really happening in the US. It's a shame they drag their families in to it.

 

[reinbeau]

I disagree. Conservatives are, by definition, conservative. While I doubt Obama stands a chance of re-election, if he does get re-elected it'll just go on as it is now. Now if the Obama Haters had done as much damage in 8 months as the Bush Haters did in eight years then guess what? He wouldn't be in power anymore - yet he is, still, the President. I doubt that will change until the next election. See, we conservatives believe in the system, we don't want to change it, we just want it adhered to. Something no sitting president seems to care for lately.

 

[me&thegals]

The race card needs to be put away.

Whew! That's a relief! Now I can start ignoring the racial slander I hear in my area and chalk it up to bad habits, slips of the tongue or Freudian oopses. SO GLAD that 1 black president has turned the entire tide of American history. I didn't think I would see it happen so quickly.

Wow, you must live in a backwards, ignorant area. I never hear racist comments here, people here just live - as people. So continue to immerse yourself in racism, and feel so justified in propagating the belief that it's still rampant.

It's as bad as constantly trotting out Bush. He's gone, Obama is black and has been elected President, the race thing is over, and Bush haters do more to pull this country down than he ever thought of doing.

Um, how? I am a Bush despiser. All it makes me do is everything I can to teach my children better, help those around me more, participate more in my own government, and realize the power of government--how much damage actually CAN be done by one man.

So it's ok to teach your children to despise one president, but rail on about those of us who dislike this one? Hmmmm, I see a slight hypocrisy here. Because your children definitely do know you despise Bush, don't even think for a moment they haven't picked that up.

Bush was wrong, but he was just a president, there have been bad presidents before, there will be more, and we will endure the present bad president. It's a process we have to work through. The polarizing is ripping this country apart. The Bush Haters have done more harm to this country than Bush ever thought of doing. Now let's see what happens with the Obama Haters.

Boy, where to even start? "Continue to immerse myself in racism?" I'm not sure what on earth you mean. Should I move immediately and hope to find a pocket of purity and saintliness somewhere in America? Or should I teach my kids better than that, encourage healthy diverse friendships and not tolerate that crap being spoken around my kids?

"Propagating the belief that it is rampant"? Uh, maybe I am cynical or maybe you have your head in the sand. It's there whether you believe it or not, like it or not. I would be delighted to never see evidence of it again. It makes my blood boil and skin crawl. It makes me angry. You have a strange way of interpreting my comments.

As for teaching my children to despise a president, you've really overstepped on this one. I don't believe I have ever met you, so I have no idea how you know what I teach my kids. When I referred to teaching my kids, I teach them about what I believe to be right and wrong. I teach them about tolerance, about honesty, kindness, working hard. I teach them about learning about others' difference, being peacemakers. I teach them about all the things I believe in (and my husband).

You are quite free to like or dislike any president, obviously. I am also free to comment on this forum that racism is not dead, unfortunately. I have no idea what harm you are referring to when you refer to Bush haters. As I believe I have mentioned before, someone once said that dissent is the greatest benefit of democracy.

As for personal references to my children and parenting, that's really pushing it.

 

[patandchickens]

I've lived in a lot of different places - PA, NC, OH, NJ, W NY state, and now Canada. I've also spent a fair bit of time in other places, including Massachusetts as it happens, and worked with people who had just moved *from* a lot of otehr places, including Massachusetts as it happens.

I have NEVER lived anywhere that I would say there was no racism. Never.

And if there is no racism in Massachusetts now, which I cannot believe unless one has a rather unusual or blind-eye personal definition of the term, then it's because it has been exporting various people to live elsewhere with less than colorblind views about their fellow citizens, shall we say. (Mind, I have also known some really wonderful people from Massachusetts, this is totally not meant as a slam against the state, I'm just saying, it has the same foibles as anywhere else, as far as I can tell).

There is a whoooole lot more to racism than walking up to a black guy and saying "get to the back of the bus, <rude racial epithet goes here>".


Pat

 

[reinbeau]

I didn't say there was no racism, or that it was dead, I said some choose to believe it's as bad as it ever was, and I'll challenge them on that - black or white. Things have improved, yet you wouldn't know it the way the race card gets hauled out at every opportunity. I rarely, if ever, see it, although I understand it flows still - both ways.

 

[delia_peterson]

I didn't say there was no racism, or that it was dead, I said some choose to believe it's as bad as it ever was, and I'll challenge them on that - black or white. Things have improved, yet you wouldn't know it the way the race card gets hauled out at every opportunity. I rarely, if ever, see it, although I understand it flows still - both ways.

There is alot of racism here where I live. I am Hispanic. And its easier for me now then alot of the other minorities here as I have tried to learn to live with it in my life in a positive way. I have learned to turn the other cheek so to speak.And hope to live my life in a way that will show other people I meet here in my town to get to know me before stereotyping me. I was raised to treat people the way you would like to be treated. And it does not always get returned.Thats all I have to say.

 

[FarmerChick]

I also believe in the power of one, FarmerChick. In this case, though, I don't see how I could have stopped illegal torture, false claims that led to war in Iraq, illegal wiretapping of the citizenry, tax breaks for the incredibly wealthiest of our country, etc., etc.

The way I showed how much I hated his policies was to vote for Obama

Well with what Bush did was just an extension of violations on the Constitutional rights.

Like all other Presidents that took advantage.....and again, the citizens allowed it.

Our nation could easily stop any President in their tracks. We just would never get organized enough to do it...hey we are civilized. We truly don't protest in large groups. We won't do it anytime soon. Past history shows we citizens ALLOW these things to happen.

No, one can not change it, but a nation can. A million man march on DC gets results...yet for some many UGH issues, we would have millions in DC every day with a million issues..LOL--we all would have to camp there for like 3-4 mos. HA HAHA

 

[FarmerChick]

Will someone tell me "what exactly Bush haters" have done?
Give me real solid examples?
I don't understand how a Bush hater could "do anything"

just wondering


NOW---Obama is in office, only a short time---let the man do some magic if possible. I doubt he can, cause the "system" we have won't allow real change. Change will be so slow in coming to our system that we will suffer horrible because of it. Who likes change? Surely not the govt. and people don't either. Everyone is frightened of change from the norm as we know...in our life and in our country.

We need change. We must do it and we must take drastic actions to do it.

The good of the many exceeds the good of the few. It must be that way because we can never, ever, help every single person to a personal level. We can only do the best for a nation on a whole.

 

[Big Daddy]

I once bought one of those Bush dolls that said one of his Bushism's when you pushed the button. I laughed at him during his debate with Kerry.

Of course the funniest debate item was when McCain stumbled and looked like he was getting ready to grab Obamas rear end. I bet Obama has that picture framed somewhere.