It's been a little over a week since the nation witnessed history as Senator Barack Obama was voted as our 44th President of the United States with, by electoral votes, a landslide decision. It'll be one of those moments that I will never forget. People shouted out in celebration and in agony, and did so through the help of our era's way of connecting with people:
Facebook.
Specifically, through their Facebook statuses. Weird, isn't? For one night, statuses completely exploded with updates, which took on the form of mini blog posts, not unlike Twitter. To watch history as the first black American be elected as president quickly went from happiness and excitement to shock and disgust as I saw the things posted on their status. Here's just a few of the actual updates from last Tuesday night:
"-is leaving the country"
"-thinks that America is stupid"
"-thinks Georgia should just secede again... I got guns and ammo, and enough cigars to last a long time."
"-What has america done?"
"-hates everyone for only liking Obama because he is black... what ignorant fools."
"-...guns in hand, ready to secede. Let's do it Georgia. So why was Jessie Jackson crying? A little gay..."
"-Congratulations America, you got it wrong... and you will be sorry."
"-is going to become a drug dealer so she doesn't have to have a real job and 'spread the wealth.'"
"-is thinking that only in America can a man with ties to terrorism and a non-existent birth certificate become president. Good job guys."
"-is disappointed that the new national bird will be fried chicken."
"-is wearing black tomorrow to mourn the death of our country to a black man.."
I don't think this is what the guys at Facebook were thinking this tool was going to be used for during election night. Facebook, something used to connect friends and family together, was used as a tool to bring people apart. Countless comments to statuses littered news feeds everywhere, making for an entertaining read. I, myself, managed to get tangled into a heated debate over Obama's economic plans.
I don't mind talking intelligently about opposing views of mine, as long as people present themselves and their argument rationally and they also respect opposing issues. I'll talk to you all day! The problem is when people make ignorant comments and act self-righteous with their beliefs. This one person told me I was irresponsible for voting for Obama.
Bad idea.
The debate turned into a pointless argument where I finally had to stop replying because this other person couldn't respect my opinion and could care less to educate himself with views he didn't agree with/understand. I can't have conversations with people like that.
America has come a long way in the past 50 years. Be that as it may, Facebook proved to me that there are still issues in America we still have to deal with: racism, stereotypes, understanding each other, and working together. Who knows if those issues will ever go away, but I think we're taking good steps in the right direction.
Oh, and to the people who are saying they want to the leave the USA now: let me know- I'LL HELP YOU PACK!
:D
3 comments:
Wow, some of those are way worse than ones that I saw. I did however see this one that you mentioned:
"-...guns in hand, ready to secede. Let's do it Georgia. So why was Jessie Jackson crying? A little gay..."
I was WAY mad. SUCH an ignorant comment. WHY THE HELL DO YOU THINK HE WAS CRYING? Of COURSE this came from a straight white male.
I saw the debate on your wall, too. :P
Some of those statuses are WAY worse than ones I saw. Were the particularly racist ones friends from high school?
Also, does your blog notify you if I comment on old posts so that you'll actually see this? :P
yeah, that comment was so ignorant. my opinions of people changed a lot that night.
some of the statuses I pulled from an article about this from the red & black.
that debate was ridiculous!! did you catch it before he started deleting my comments? :p
and, yeah, i get an email when you comment, so comment away!
I am still floored by the ignorant comments. I can't believe how imprudent people can be, but I can see the scale is ever-changing and it is tipping away from ignorance. It was a landslide win; It was no contest! This election has uplifted the hopes of many non-believers, so I will no longer let the ignorance bring me down. I'm with you, I'll just help them pack. :)
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