I took a course in college on multiculturalism in education, and something I learned from that class is that we as humans, all carry prejudices, and to deny that those prejudices exists does nothing to help us resolve them. In fact, it perpetuates them. I was surprised through assignments we did in class to discover my own personal prejudices. I always thought of myself as open minded.
I think by claiming that Obama's race is not an issue for many people, and that on some level it influences their opinions of the work he is doing as President, is, well, denial. We are not color blind, though many people will state fervently that they are.
In fact, I believe I may carry a certain reverse prejudice regarding Obama, in that I believe that his background and ethnicity set him apart from any president we've ever had, and therefore, he will bring something different to the table. On the other hand, I acknowledge that he is a politician, and in that way, is the same as other presidents.
I don't disagree that people who are speaking out against Obama may take issue with his policies, etc. I just think it's important to realize that race is a factor, whether people acknowledge it or not.
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a thought about racism
