Obama presidency uncovers veiled racism, intolerance

America wants change.

Well, at least 53 percent of Americans want change. The rest want to continue repeating history and living in ignorance because apparently it's "blissful."

I personally don't see the bliss in living in a country that's full of discrimination, has a poor economy and has a bad reputation with other countries. I'm still waiting for total blissfulness to kick in.

Finally, the majority of America agrees something needs to be done to resolve these issues, and that makes me thrilled.

However, just as the chants of "Yes we can" quickly turned into "Yes we did," there's obviously still a lot more to do.

One particular issue that still needs resolving is racism. The fact that it still exists and that President-elect Barack Obama's ethnicity became a dominant factor in the election, when we should have focused on his credibility, is just sad.

Since Obama was elected, multiple racist jokes have stirred up in the inbox of my cell phone about him.

What's shocking to me is that the same people who sent me "Vote 4 Obama!" texts sent me these:

• "Free BBQ tomorrow! Chicken, watermelon and 40s at the White House, bring your own blunt. We runnin' dis shit now. - Obama." That's weird, I've never heard Obama say, "dis shit" and I never really got the impression from his speeches that all he wants to do is party.
• "Due to recent events, grape soda, menthol cigarettes, Colt 45 and fried chicken will now be tax exempt. Isn't it wonderful? - Obama" Do we really know if Obama drinks grape soda, smokes and eats fried chicken? Way to stereotype.
• "All the white people must report to the cotton fields tomorrow morning at 7 a.m. for orientation! Thanks, President Obama." Um, hello, Obama is part white.
• "What do JFK and Obama have in common? Nothing yet, lol." Are you laughing out loud yet? I'm not.

And it doesn't stop there. There are other racist things being said about our future president. For example, BBC News reported that popular conservative talk-show host Rush Limbaugh referred to Obama as the "little black man-child," which belittles him completely.

Also, Fox News has called his wife, Michelle Obama, his "baby mama."

The term "baby mama" has a negative connotation and refers to an unmarried woman who has a child with a man she is not necessarily involved with. In my view, the comment is implying that because she is black she falls into the stigma of being a baby mama, even though she's a married mother of two.

As well, one Republican senator described Obama as "uppity," a negative word formerly used to describe blacks who believed they could be more than what society allowed them to be, BBC News reported.

With the majority of Americans claiming they want change, it seems hypocritical to send texts or use racial slurs that add to the ignorance and discrimination this country has continuously had problems with. What makes it OK for us to joke about serious matters such as these, especially when the president we elected is desperately trying to diminish them?

That seems like a nearly impossible task for anyone to do, especially if we're going to continue contributing to it by making jokes about it.

For once we should stop focusing on the color of people's skin and focus more on their capabilities and credibility. Obama is fit for the job and I have faith he can truly change America in positive ways as long as we allow him to. But if we keep falling back into stigmas of the past, we will never be able to move forward.

We should do everything we can to help Obama end racism, and that starts with diminishing racial slurs and jokes. If we aren't the solution we're the problem.

Kelley Chandler can be reached at kchandler@theorion.com