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Racial prejudice still plagues voting system |
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Monday, 23 June 2008 |
According to a recent Washington Post-ABC News poll released on Sunday, nearly 3 in 10 voters acknowledged they possessed some form of racial bias.
The poll also said that only 51 percent of Americans currently rate the current state of race relations as “excellent” or “good.”
What a sad world we live in.
This primary season was a season of many firsts. For the first time in history, a white woman and a black man actually stood a legitimate chance at winning their party’s nomination for president.
Voters turned out in record numbers. Nearly 40 million voters on the
democratic side showed up at the polls to make their desire for change
known to the American public.
But amidst the promising numbers at the polls, it’s discouraging to me
to think there are still people who harbor some feeling of racial
prejudice toward others in this time of great uncertainty in our
country.
One of the last states to hold primary elections in the United States
was West Virginia. It turned out to be one of Sen. Hillary Clinton’s
strongest election performances when she claimed nearly 67 percent of
the vote. The New York senator thrived among white, working-class
voters. The polls would later show that of those who voted, 2 in 10
white voters said that race played a factor into their decision.
How can this be a viable way to choose a candidate?
It sickens me to think that people actually voted for Hillary Clinton simply because she was the only white candidate running.
They didn’t vote for her because of her wish to nationalize the health care system.
They voted for her because her skin was white and Obama’s was black.
I’ve never thought Sen. Barack Obama was qualified to be president.
The young senator has hardly finished his first term in office and is
already running for president. Being as young as he is, he had hardly
any time to even make an impact within the United States Senate. I
could come up with a number of reasons as to why I feel Obama is not
fit to be president.
But his skin color? What a ludicrous thought.
What bothers me more is when people were asked if race was a factor in their decision, people actually answered with a yes.
Do people have no shame? The people who said yes to this question must not.
They knew that their response was going to be recorded.
This new poll acknowledges some people still can’t pull themselves away from racism.
Why?
What’s preventing this?
This is 2008. We’re almost 44 years removed from the passing of the 1964 Civil Rights Act.
Now we have to worry about rising energy prices. We also have a
slowing economy, rising unemployment rate, failing social security
system and increasingly costly war to worry about.
For the 3 in 10 people in this poll who said that they were indeed racist, I’ve got news for you.
You’re slowing this country down. You’re not helping. Find a way to
supersede your bias. This country has enough problems without you.
Cory Watson, a junior journalism major from Mebane, is a news/sports reporter.
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