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Friday, September 12, 2008 12:00 AM

What small-town America is saying about Obama

In diners and mobile homes from New Mexico to North Carolina, I listened to working-class people try to make sense of a black president named Barack.

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  • Friday, September 12, 2008 09:01 AM

    I hate the question...

    "Is America ready for a black president?"

    I mean, for fuck's sake.

    Why not just ask the REAL question -- are a plurality of voting Americans too racist to vote for a black president?

    We both tolerate and enable willful ignorance by couching the issue in such safe language.

    Instead of asking why our schools are failing, why not just ask if elementary students are ready for two and two to equal four?

    Instead of asking why sexual assault runs rampant on many college campuses and military installations, why not just ask if rapists are ready to stop raping?

    Does no one crack a history book anymore? When has progress in America come simply because people were "ready" for it? Slavery was ended by an executive order. Civil rights reform was imposed at gunpoint. We live in a country full of laziness and inertia. People are ready for something when you TELL them they're ready for it. Wait around for their approval and you'll be waiting forever.

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