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I am an American living in Europe. One day my son may go and live in the US, get a chance to visit the White House or even meet the President. If he does, I believe he won’t care what color she is! Things were not that way for me when I was growing up in California.
I was 5 years old and in a downtown LA playground, and had wandered over to a small boy with very brown, shiny skin, a huge toothy smile and a head of close-cropped, curly black hair. I was fascinated. I remember that he giggled when I reached up and ran my hand over his head. The next thing I knew, I was being dragged across the playground to a washroom where my angry babysitter was scrubbing my hands in ice cold water and scolding me for touching people who could make me sick. CLICK HERE TO COLOR THE PRESIDENT WHATEVER COLOR SUITS YOU
It was America in the early 60s. Facebook was a woman’s magazine, a skateboard was a foot-long piece of wood with a broken rollerskate nailed on the bottom, kids sat on neighborhood street corners and sold kool-aid for 5 cents a cup, dads worked, moms cooked, and we all hunted for commies in the closets. At night we watched Walter Cronkite deliver the news on washing-machine-sized TV sets. I was 5 years old, an age when memories are emotional in nature and dates and names are fuzzy.
Children begin their lives walking around with their hearts held out with both hands in front of them. Slowly, as the world impacts on them, they learn to hold their hearts concealed behind their backs in one hand, while the other reaches out in cautious greetings. It is a difficult and painful process to examine one’s own early childhood conditioning, but it is so very helpful and enlightening when you are raising a child of your own.
Today, I live in a European capitol, am married to an Iranian nurse who grew up with memories of Iraqi bombs and the weight of an oppressive government. We travel often and have friends and family of various faiths and races in Europe, the US, and the Middle East. We have a young boy with an active mind and we are worried about his future. In 2008, While watching the presidential debates between John McCain and Barack Obama my son, then 8 years old, told me that he wanted to go and live in the US. He is a US citizen and can move there when he grows up, but I was curious why he said this. He told that he wanted to meet Obama because he liked his head! I stifled a laugh and the idea of telling him that Obama (soon to become president Obama) would be far too busy and almost impossible to meet. Instead, I just answered, "You know what? I like his head too!"
That was 4 years ago. My son still wants to go and live in the US. But so much has changed, so many have lost their jobs, their homes, their self respect. Much hatred and mistrust has surfaced. So much time has been wasted and the worst kind of hatred and contempt between fellow citizens has surfaced nurtured by economic divisions and a propaganda war that seems to have its roots in an obsession by some to get that black man out of the White House - no matter who it hurts or what it destroys in the process! Their method was/is to simply insure that absolutely nothing gets done then to point a finger and say "See, I told you so!"
Mitt Romney says he can fix the economy of the US because he’s a businessman. But it is absurd to think that a business person automatically knows how to fix the economy or lead a country. Businesses come and go – a country is not a business. No business is as old as England, very few as old as the United States.
A true leader is some one who inspires a nation to be better than it is. A real leader can show his followers that they are really all in the same boat – black, white, brown, yellow, rich, poor, religious, atheist, male, female, gay, straight, young & old – a mass of humanity – a melting pot of people on a common quest. It is a shame to see a nation that has been an inspiration to the world, being held hostage and on the brink of losing that which made it great – diversity, flexibility, tolerance, ingenuity, compassion, justice, and a desire for freedom.
I am an American living in Europe. One day my son may go and live in the US, and I am worried about what is happening there.
CLICK HERE TO COLOR THE ABOVE OBAMA DRAWING ONLINE
Copyright©2012:Tim Newlin, timtim.com
