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From Colin Response

[Yes We Candidacy]

Thanx for the post title G-Slavename!

I recently realized that I’ve become addicted to cynnicism and I’m working on kickin’ that nasty habit. I have lived a life full of blessing, beauty, laughter and love; I have lived a life full of heartache, disappointment, anxiety and despair. I recently spoke with a San Francisco State U Ethnic Studies Professor who told me, “nobody goes into this line of work for the money. If we were rational we would go into sociology, history, psychology, etc. People come here (Ethnic/Asian American Studies) to process pain. This is a study in pain. People come here because it calls them and have no other choice but to answer it…”

So apparently I have experienced and wittnessed enough pain in my life and the lives of people around me to feel the need to process it; and apparently I am privileged enough to have come to a place where I have the opportunity to do so. When expressing some of the guilt that comes along with being able to access an opportunity such as this, another one of my Professors exclaimed, “do NOT look at this chance as something to feel guilty about, but as tremendous responsibility!” That made me feel a lot better, but didn’t exactly take any weight off of my shoulders either. =P

In any case, if there are two things I know too well they are the feelings of triumphant optimism as well as devastating hopelessness. The next 12 days (and beyond) promise to be filled with both. The 2008 elections represent a Tipping Point in American history. Are the American people as a whole ready to: a) get off their arses and vote, b) vote for a better candidate and say no to the fear, ignorance and hatred of the past, or c) see another 4 years of the same ole bullsh*t?

The following post is my best attempt at voicing the ways in which the 2008 Elections look through my Japanese/Scottish/Native/Asian/Anglo/Amerikan/Richmond/El Cerrito/Working-Class/Middle-Class/Heterosexual/Hip-Hop/AsianAmericanStudies/20-something lens. Please bear with me, family. I’m still figuring it all out myself…

Yadadai-whoever-gave-barack-his-middle-name-aint-think-he-was-gonna-run-for-president…

“THE ONE”
Barack Obama vs. Neo

Does it really surprise you that we would need a mixed person to “save the world?” I DON’T say this in a vain attempt to big up mixed people, but to make the point of the ways in which public figures can benefit from blurring racial lines in America. If a biracial, straight-A, Harvard Law President, raised by 3 white people (his mother and grandparents) is getting hit by every accusation of being a “muslim terrorist who hates America,” imagine the attacks on say a President Morgan Freeman… While people of mixed heritage are racialized differently depending on their ethnic background/s, I do NOT for a second believe that a person with ZERO Anglo/white ancestry could become the President of the United States today. That’s my opinion; I could be wrong (but I HIGHLY doubt that sh*t).

I believe that Obama’s uncanny ability to connect to white folks’ hearts around issues regarding certain family values and growing up working-class through his oratory skills is the largest reason for his great success. Let’s face it: if a large number of white people in this country don’t like you, there is only so far you can really go within the arena of electoral politics (and this is NOT to say that all white people like Barack). With all the “hope” that surrounds an Obama Presidency, I am forced to examine the ways in which people (myself included) have at times looked for him to be a messaiah, sent to save us. That sh*t needs to stop.

In “The Matrix,” Keanu Reeves character “Neo” is someone who sees the falsities in the world around him and possesses an innate ability to bend and blur the rules of that world. He is known as “The One,” prophecized to be a savior who will battle the machines who have enslaved mankind, thus liberating our bodies and minds from the mistakes of our past. Sound familiar? =T

Seeing the Matrix:
1. Barack aint Jesus, people (that doens’t mean he can’t be crucified however – PLEASE protect him Lord =T).
2. Keanu was chosen over Will “the boss of Hip-Hop generation actors since Tupac died” Smith, for the role of “Neo.” I guess an ethnic-white guy seemed more suitable to Hollywood (I’m tellin’ yall about the advantages of having that Anglo blood, blud!). =T
3. I don’t think Keanu has ever played a role in which his Asian ancestry is acknowledged, which does NOT go. =T
4. To me, this (presidential) race is less Black vs. White than it is the Past vs. the Future. =)

He can’t stop bullets with his mind, but he will give u a phatty tax cut if you make less than $250,000 a year! Don’t take the blue pill u beezys! Go down the rabbit hole w/me and vote Obama!

To read the rest of the post check out the Colin Response blog.