My personal experience with 2 elderly women I recently met who are both scared of Obama

[mtnsnake]

I met both of these women in the last 2 weeks, one when I was doing business and the other when I was with her in a waiting room where we were both waiting to get eye exams.

I wasn't planning on talking politics with the first one, but we somehow just got into it. She seemed very concerned about the economy and wasn't at all pleased with the last 8 years. So, thinking she'd be happy with Obama, I asked her how she liked him. She immediately said to me, almost in a whisper, "I'm so afraid if he gets in....you know....he's a.........(long hesitation)............black man." At least she didn't say colored. Anyway, I was really floored because this lady was so sweet when I met her that I never would have dreamed she'd be afraid of seeing a black man get elected. Her son, who I was doing some business with at the time, seemed embarrassed at his mother's display of racism.

The second lady, the one I met in the waiting room, was also elderly. There was a TV on, and when it showed a clip of Obama, she said she was petrified out of her mind of him. She started right in with, "We can't let this man get in. He is right in with all those Muslims. I think he is one of them himself. Did you know that his father is a Muslim? If he gets in, the terrorists are going to take over our country!!" She expressed herself in such a frantic and worried tone that I know she actually believes it's true. In fact, she told me she's so scared of Obama that she's going to leave the country and move to Alaska if he wins. I kid you not. There was nothing I could say to convince her that Obama wasn't a terrorist waiting to happen. I was so moved by her ignorance that I tactfully told her that I heard that the reason Sarah Palin lives in Alaska is because it is so close to Russia, and she is secretly plotting with the Russians to take over the United States if she gets elected. She just looked at me, clearly stunned, and said "Oh my God!". I told her I heard it on Fox News. Then she got called in for her eye exam.

Folks, I honestly believe we are going to end up trouncing the Repukes in the end, but we do have some educating to do along the way. We probably aren't going to change the minds of many racists, but we do need to address the concerns of people like Lady #2 and somehow convince them that Obama is as American as them or anyone else.

Have you met anyone like this? It's really unsettling when it happens.

[Zookeeper]

1. She's going to "leave the country and move to Alaska?"

:rofl:

Oh, dear.

[WinkyDink]

8. It's foreign, just like Hawaii (though not as exotic).

[Blue_In_AK]

2. I love the comment

she's "going to leave the country and move to Alaska." :rofl: :rofl: :rofl: Sounds like an AIP recruit. :rofl:

[Beausoleil]

20. You would be surprised at people's ignorance of Alaska

When I lived in Seward, I would constantly hear people in the tourist shops ask "Do you take American money here?"

Almost as funny as those who just disembarked from a cruise ship, seeing Seward's beautiful mountains and glaciers and asking "What is your elevation here?"

[FrenchieCat]

3. Tell them that the Dem ticket is 1/4 Black and 100% right on the issues!

[GreenEyedLefty]

4. Oh, yes.

Your response was awesome. I was just thinking of composing some e-mail forwards, myself.

[madaboutharry]

5. You're beautiful.

"...I heard it on Fox News."

[mtnsnake]

11. Thanks. I have to admit I had a little fun with her. lol

[bdamomma]

6. I only really sympathize with these people who have their

own demons to face and will put this country in a grave, because of their own prejudices.

[AuntPatsy]

7. Definately, sometimes though I think they say those things just to get me riled up at least I

think thats the case. I would hate to believe they were honestly that "stupid"

[gateley]

9. The fear stems from ignorance - and the Repubs fan the flames.

A lot of people the age of these women, depending on where you live, were raised in an entirely different atmosphere than what we have now. They were TAUGHT that blacks were different and "lesser", and they probably didn't have any interaction with them outside of situations where blacks were in subservient positions.

We need to gently try to bring these people around, and if they're afraid of the black guy, focus on the issues and the platform and what how the republicans have harmed our country and our people.

That's the approach I took with a friend of mine (racist, although she'd never recognize that in herself), and took the individual players out of it - just talked about the mess we're in. Although I DID say I was comforted knowing that Biden would be high up in the government, as she knows I've been a Biden freak forever. But the end result was, she was changing her mind, and looking past her fears/hatred and more at the big picture.

It's worth a shot. :shrug:

[mtnsnake]

17. awesome post

I think the first lady I met fits your description almost perfectly. I highly doubt that she considers herself a racist. She certainly didn't seem hateful. She was genuinely scared of Obama getting elected because of her false perception of black people being unlike her, and most likely she had no personal interactions of her own with them in her life.

[crispini]

10. "he is secretly plotting with the Russians to take over the United States if she gets elected."

:rofl:

That's hysterical. :yourock:

You know the one thing that I have found that (some) of these kinds of people respond to?

"I like Obama because he's smart."

It usually at least gets you a, "Oh I hadn't thought of that."

[mtnsnake]

12. not "he"...."she is secretly plotting"

:evilgrin:

[BlooInBloo]

13. (shrug) It's just how lots of white folks are. They'll die soon.

[Gman]

14. Whisper campaigns work very well

this is an excellent example of it. The thing is that this whisper campaign about Obama being a Muslim has been going on unabated since late last year. Even though this has been debunked everywhere, the emails keep getting forwarded and forwarded and forwarded and places like FR just keep it going and going and going. They all know full well it's not true, but that doesn't matter to them in the least. Their approach to the game is that the ends greatly more than justifies the means.

McCain can tell you first hand how well whisper campaigns work, just as they did in South Carolina in 2000. It was the "same people" doing the whisper campaign about him and his adopted kid that was so heart tuggingly displayed at the RNC. Makes your head spin and then explode.

[tpi10d]

15. when you hear these conversations

keep in mind that 40% of the country is right-wing and 35% are hard right wing. Elections are decided by the middle 10%. They're better targets for persuasion than the hard right who hasn't voted D in the last 50 years.

[TuxedoKat]

16. That is hilarious!

LOL at your remark to the second woman! I don't know how you said it with a straight face, but good for you. I'm might use that if I ever get in a conversation like that!

[mtnsnake]

19. haha, feel free to use it

I think I'm going to start using it more myself, especially for any ignoramus who is convinced that Obama is a Muslim terrorist. From now on, I'm gonna hit them back with the Palin/Russia thing. If they're going to be swayed they might as well be swayed in our direction :evilgrin:

[TuxedoKat]

21. Okay, thanks, but..

... I'm going to have to practice saying it with a straight face!

[NoodleyAppendage]

18. Just because someone is old doesn't mean they should be shown deferrence for being RACIST.

Those women need to be corrected and told that the world has moved beyond Jim Crow. They are "fossils of hate."

In the case of the elderly racist voters, the best we can hope for is inclimate weather to keep them in their hate-filled hovels come election day.

J

[Cheap_Trick]

22. Or an all-day "Murder, She Wrote" marathon

[NoodleyAppendage]

23. LOL! Nice one. n/t

J