Omid Memarian

Friday, May 16, 2008

Is this what America is all about?

More than 20 percent of voters in West Virginia have acknowledged that race has been a main factor not to vote for Sen Obama. Meaning what? In practice, the number of people who believe so, is probably more that this number. 30 percent? 40? or more? It is not clear....

For Many people who have lived out of the United States, and or Americans who have lived abroad, this seems so embarrassing, although that's true. Americans can be proud of many things, but what has happened in W.V, and many other cities, is not one of them.

Sen. Clinton has highlighted one the deepest social divides in this country. More than the other times, the term "black" and "white" are heard in the media and public domain. It's not only West Virginia, even at Berkeley, where I live, race is a factor in different ways. Many people might think that Berkeley is one of the coolest cities in the world. To a large extent I agree. But, to be honest, even at UC Berkeley that I study, there have been occasions that I have felt the same thing that Barack Obama is experiencing in the other cities about the "race factor". The cool thing about living here is that people are more considerate and politically correct. But at the end of the day, you feel it deeply. I think it is not very important that Barack Obama gets the nomination or not, what matters is the issues that come to the surface of the society. Race, religion, superstitions and the fact that somebody like George W. Bush could be elected, not once but twice, in such a country.

John Stewart make fun of the W.V's primary but it's not truly funny. It's just sad. I told a friend of mine who was mucking Americans race-religion issues in the primary that it is not all America is about. It is, of course, a part of that but it is much bigger than that...However, this sentence was not finished that I asked myself. "do I really mean it?". Yes, I do, really mean it.

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