Obama Elected President as Racial Barrier Falls

I came across this headline this AM, and I was nodding my head sideways. First of all, I am very glad that Obama won, as expected. I think that he is an excellent candidate, and that America will finally be in good hands soon, after eight long tumultuous years. Also, I believe that this event will greatly energize and motivate African Americans, esp. the kids - good for them.

However, I do not think that this election result is an indication that the racism is on decline; it probably is declining, but I wouldn't use this result as an indicator.

I would agree with this argument when two equally good candidates (one black, one white) contest, and the black (wo)man manages to prevail. With economy in turmoil and foreign wars going nowhere, even a scarecrow would have beaten a Republican. Added to this, on Republican side, McCain's senile charisma was matched only by Palin's mastery of world politics - that didn't help them! I believe that a good percentage of vote was anti-Republican rather than pro-Democrat. I am not saying this to undermine Obama's capability. Irrespective of statistics, again, I think that he is an excellent candidate who deserved 100% of the vote.

What I am saying is, when I am thirsty and I have 60c in my pocket, I would buy the best soda available for that money. I wouldn't bother to find if the seller is white, black, or some shade in between. In our case, Obama was Coke Classic for 50c, while McCain was Sam's Cola for 75c; I can't afford to pay more for an inferior drink.

I think racial discrimination will prevail (at least) as long as large financial disparity continues between ethnic groups. I am not pinning down racism to whites. For examples (once) rich upper castes in India exploited the lower castes for centuries. Now, at least in large cities, with distribution of wealth among many castes, the caste divide is not as conspicuous as it used to be.

If we talk about race, if anything, this election probably is an indicator of reverse discrimination. Based on exit polls, more than 95% African Americans voted for Obama while about 55% of whites voted for McCain.

Finally, I think discrimination is a necessary survival instinct. Whether we like it or not, whether we admit it or not, we constantly discriminate. For example, in many cases, black = poor, and poor = crime. I bet, on using implication logic (a implies b and b implies c, means a implies c), even rich blacks would roll up their windows when they drive through predominantly black and impoverished neighborhoods. Do current social conditions imply that blacks are inferior? No way! As evolutionary biologist Jared Diamond so eloquently presented in his book Guns, Germs, and Steel, we are what we are for a variety of complex reasons. Talking about racism, I strongly believe that Indians in the US are more racist when compared local whites/blacks - again, new environment, survival.

Imagine a non-conforming deer in a jungle who attempts to mingle with a pride of lions with an open mind - he surely would end up joining them at dinner table! I firmly believe that racial discrimination is an abominable act/thought. Unfortunately, most of us are not as innocent as we presume ourselves to be in this department. In this world, wealth (and knowledge, to an extent) is the only equalizer, unfortunately.