Tigue O'Connor's Weblog

“Well, you know, Barack Obama is a Muslim,” is a quote I’ve heard repeatedly from some McCain’s supporters over the course of the last few months. Not only is the argument completely fallacious, but it’s also deeply entrenched in prejudice. Sen. Obama is not a Muslim, but even if he was, that should never be taken into consideration.

Statements such as these are no different than signs designating separate drinking fountains for whites and blacks. They are in no way different than signs that once read “Jews need not apply” or “Irish need not apply.” These kinds of statements are exactly what led to six million Jews being murdered during World War II. They are what allowed people to justify to themselves that it was acceptable to try and extinguish an entire race of people simply because they possessed a belief system that deviated from their own.

If the argument that he is a Muslim is an acceptable one, than so is the argument that you shouldn’t vote for someone simply because they are Jewish, Catholic, Hindu, Buddhist, Agnostic, or Atheist. That being said, the odds of being elected President of the United States as anything other than a white Anglo-Saxon protestant is about 1 out of every 43 (thank you John F. Kennedy), or just 2%. If the United States is truly the world’s “melting pot” then shouldn’t the leaders of this country reflect that, or should we continue on a path of prosaic understanding of those that live amongst us with a different set of beliefs, never truly shattering the ever present glass ceiling?

“I think Barack Obama’s popularity stems from the fact that he is black,” is yet another ridiculous statement that I’ve recently heard from some of McCain’s supporters. Yet again, this is another example of prejudice, plain and simple. One would be hard pressed to find a black man or woman in these United States that felt that they somehow benefited from being black. Let us review some of these so called benefits.

First of all, they were brought to this country, chained to the floor of slaves ships, ripped apart from their families and homelands, and sold as property. Then they were considered to be only 2/3 of a person. Then they were lynched and deprived the right to vote. Then they were told they were second class citizens and were segregated from the rest of the population. In the same way, they were forced into welfare systems with no foreseeable way out, paid less for the same work as their white counterparts, and forced into overcrowded and dangerous prisons for victimless crimes. This form of hegemony over the black man does not seem like it would lend itself to popularity.

Sen. Obama’s popularity has nothing to do with the fact that he has a black father, his popularity has to do with the fact that he transcends race. His popularity is an amalgamation, which is the mark of a true American. We are all composed of different races, ethnicity’s, and religions. If our assertion to the world is that we are the “melting pot,” electing Sen. Obama would finally prove it.