I’ve realized today, more that perhaps any other day of my life, that racism is alive and well in America.

Anymore, I do not speak out often about politics with the exception of specific issues, but the attitude I have seen concerning presidential candidate Barak Obama simply disturbs and sickens me. I’ve talked to friends, family and seen comments online, and the general sentiment is that people do not want to vote for this man because of his race and/or alleged religion. Keep in mind that I am not his #1 fan due to some of his ideas on certain issues, and I did not vote for him in the primaries today.

I’ve heard people say that he looks too much like a terrorist (paraphrasing), that he is actually a radical Muslim, that he is unpatriotic, his name sounds too Arabic, and that no one who looks like him should ever be allowed to run for president.

First off, no one seems to be able to present any concrete proof that he is a Muslim extremist. It’s all rumor and conjecture about his origins and the religion he pursues. There’s no evidence that I’ve seen or heard that shows Obama doing anything that labels him as a Muslim. He attends a Church of Christ, he’s never seen doing or saying anything that would indicate that he is, indeed, a Muslim. His father and step-father were indeed Muslims at one point and time, but according to all accounts, his education was steered by his atheist mother, even though he did attend a Muslim school for a period of time. Do I think he attends church because it’s a good political move? Probably. I honestly think that he is more likely an atheist than a Muslim, however.

Secondly, while race is just as much a factor for Obama as gender is for Clinton, I didn’t expect people to label him as looking too Arabic. In fact, he isn’t even Arabic at all. He is half (black) Kenyan, half (white) American. To me, and my apologies to people who feel this way, judging someone’s ability to lead by the way the look, including the color of their skin, is ignorant and bigoted. I don’t like the way John McCain looks, in fact, he looks like he might eat babies for breakfast…but if the man had good policies and I agreed with his platform, his overall look would not deter me from voting for him. I just can’t wrap my brain around why someone thinks like that.

Either way, I don’t feel that people are even remotely caring about the platform that Obama or anyone else has. Rather, they are only paying attention to the sensationalism that the media is throwing out there, and not making an informed decision based on the issues. It should be about the issues, but what a person looks like!

Of course, everyone is free to vote how they please, and believe how they please, but I always encourage people to do a lot of research on the people they want to see in office, and make the decision for the RIGHT reason.

Besides, Obama is kinda hot. :D