The Backlash...

November 4th, 2008 was a momentous night for me. Though Candidate Obama gave lovely speeches, I didn't share his ideals and did not vote for him. However by about 7pm, it was clear that Barack Obama was going to be the 44th President of the United States of America. This left me feeling very conflicted. I couldn't help but feel a bit euphoric. I've never been one of those Black Conservatives that denies their heritage and pretends America is happily colorblind. I knew that Obama's election was a watershed moment that could not be denied. I reflected on my Grandma's stories of growing up under Jim Crow. I thought of my Mom's story of her first trip to Mississippi in 1968, an experience that disturbed her so much that she never set foot in that state again. And I wished that they had lived long enough to see that night, for I know they would have shed tears of joy.

On the other hand, I wondered what it would mean for the country. It was apparent that we were on the edge of a huge paradigm shift. But it was done. Obama won the election fair and square, so there was no need to sit around being a sore loser. I would respect him as my Commander-In-Chief and life would go on. I also hoped the Conservatives would handle the loss with grace and dignity, showing a clear difference to the bratty disrespectful behavior of the Left during the Bush years(this hope would eventually be extinguished, but more on that later).

2009 rolled in, and stories began to leak that gun and ammunition sales had skyrocketed since the election. I understood that people had the right, but it spooked me. I wondered why these people felt the need to stockpile weapons. More importantly, I wondered who they planned on using these weapons against. Then came the vicious pictures and comments about the President and First Lady-or I should say the vicious pictures and comments CONTINUED. It disgusted me that the same people that objected to the previous President being disrespected had no problem doing it to Obama. The same people who always came to the defense of Laura Bush gleefully compared Michelle Obama to an ape and posted photoshopped pictures of her. Of course none of this had ANYTHING to do with the fact that the First Couple is black. Oh no, these so-called decent Americans were just expressing their disagreement with President Obama's politics. If you dared to point out the racially offensive activity, you were just obsessed with race and a bigot yourself.

Then came healthcare reform in the summer and all the drama that went along with it. Obama was destroying America and content on making all of us his socialist slaves! Obama was the Anti-Christ bent on world domination and subverting American sovereignty! At this point I made a conscious decision to stop watching tv and stop following politics for a minute. The weirdness was just too much to deal with.

Finally we get into 2010 and the healthcare bill is passed. Listening to fellow Republicans, I thought I had walked into an alternate universe. "We" had lost "our country" for good now. "They" had destroyed the promise of the United States and we were now as oppressed as citizens of the former USSR had been. "We" needed to protect ourselves against the onslaught of the evil federal government. "We" needed to form militias and take up arms(Huttaree militia anyone?). I kept hearing and seeing such sentiments and I couldn't help but think these people had lost their minds.

I have come to the conclusion that America really was not ready to elect Obama. I am not saying that the increased extremism and hatred is his fault. But the change of having a minority in office was just too much for the feeble-minded to handle. These people truly have come to believe that they are somehow oppressed and under attack. The change that this country has gone through since Election Night now makes me glad my Mom and Grandma are not here. Had they lived to see their nation return to such hatred and polarization, it would have broken their hearts as it is breaking mine.