Daily Archives: 8/29/2008
Obama Effect
| 8/29/2008 | Posted by Patti under General |
I generally give only a cursory look at American politics. Other than general knowledge of who is who and what the Americans are up to, they are not exactly a centre of influence for me. Having said that, I have to admit to having picked up some curiousity in their current election, particularly about Obama.
I’m just barely old enough to have started to have become aware of current events about the time of the race riots in the 60s, the assassination of President Kennedy and of course the Vietnam war. One of the first books about social justice I read was “Black Like Me”. It was a white author who had black pigment put onto his skin in order to explore what it was like to live as a Negro (they used that word then).
I remember my sense of disbelief that people could be treated so badly. When I asked my mother about it, she told me that the author was exaggerating. My mother often lacked a sense of other people’s reality. I realized that when I saw news reports about the battles to desegregate schools in the US and the reports about the Klu Klux Klan and their persecution of blacks. (more…)
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