If It Walks Like A Racist...

In my previous blog post, I blogged about Obama's decision to appoint Sonia Sotomayor to the Supreme Court. I wrote about her recent decision against white and Hispanic firefighters in New Haven. To summarize the case, the city of New Haven decided to give a test to a group of firefighters for a promotion. The top 15 firefighters would get promotions within the Fire Department. All participants were given the same materials to study for the exam. All participants were given the same amount of time to prepare for the exam. The top scores were achieved by mostly all white and one Hispanic firefighter. Because no black firefighters were in the top 15, the city of New Haven decided to discard the exam all together. This is obviously racism on the part of the city of New Haven. But I don't want to get into that right now. What I want to get into is racism of white people. Some people call it "reverse racism", but that term would assume that racism could only be committed by white people against black people or Hispanics. Racism is racism. Regardless of who commits the act, or who it is against. This kind of racism is the kind that most people don't like to talk about, or perhaps are afraid to talk about.

This year has been historical for minorities so far. For the first time in history, a man who is half black won the highest political seat in the world. Barack Obama is now the President of the United States of America. That is historical. There is no denying it. But my question is this: So what? Does being black automatically qualify a person to be President of the US? So much so, that even experience, policies, voting record, and principles are now meaningless? And just yesterday, Obama announced his decision for picking Sotomayor for Supreme Court. While he was delivering a speech about his choice, he mentioned that she was Puerto Rican, and that she grew up in the Bronx. But no where in his speech did he mention the most important characteristic in a Supreme Court Judge. Knowledge and adherence to the US Constitution. Is race and upbringing more important than the Constitution?

Now with Obama's pick for Supreme Court, I am starting to see and hear many Latinos who are happy for this historical appointment. Just because she is a Latina woman. It is so similar to the Blacks who went out and voted for the first "Black" President. 96% of Blacks voted for Obama. Almost half of all Whites voted for Obama. So if half of the White population voted for a Black President, that should tell you right there that a good majority of Whites are not racist. But almost ALL of the Black population voted for Obama, What does that tell you?

My question here is this: Why are people so shallow that they actually consider race, color, or gender as a deciding factor? Don't people realize that there are good and bad in all races and both genders? Why is that even important? It isn't to me. When I look at a candidate for office, local, state, or federal, I always look at the politicians past voting record. I look at his or her stance on the important issues. I look at his or her principles. I want to know if he or she is willing to fight for freedom and liberty. I want to know that he or she will protect and defend the Constitution. I don't care if the candidate is black, white, latino, man or woman. When I vote for a candidate that I believe in, I vote for the person who I think will be the best person for the job. Nothing else matters.