Friends have quietly told me that they are hesitant to vote for Obama because they believe that a racist would kill him. They’re not the only ones who feel this way. Blogs are teeming with worries, and even Obama implicitly acknowledged the risks when he requested Secret Service protection in May, the earliest for a presidential candidate in American history.
With the existence of more than 800 hate groups in America, fears are justified. Allowing these groups to determine your vote, however, is not.
I think that tolerance and security are underestimated. But for those who believe that assassination is inevitable, realize that the threat does not compromise Obama’s potential. Let me explain.
Senator Edward Kennedy recently joined his niece Caroline in endorsing Obama, likening him to her father, John F. Kennedy. Caroline went so far as to write an editorial that declared, “I have never had a president who inspired me the way people tell me that my father inspired them. But for the first time, I believe I have found the man who could be that president.”
Kennedy isn’t the only national leader with whom Obama has been associated. In 2005, he contributed a column to Time magazine expressing his admiration for Abraham Lincoln, mentioning that he could identify with his struggles. Accordingly, he declared his presidential candidacy in the “shadow of the Old State Capitol where Lincoln had called for a divided house to stand together.” The connection was further validated when filmmaker Ken Burns endorsed Obama, advising that America needs another “wiry, relatively inexperienced” figure from Illinois.
Coincidentally, both presidents compared with Obama were assassinated, a discouraging notion for his supporters. Regardless, both presidents are considered to be among the greatest in American history.
Lincoln helped save the Union and passed the proclamation that would abolish slavery and displayed integrity admired decades after his death.
Kennedy revitalized the nation. He fought for civil rights and developed programs like the Peace Corps to spread American benevolence abroad. His determination also led us to challenge the world in space exploration and literally reach the moon.
If you could go back in time with expectations that these presidents would be assassinated, would you vote to erase their presidencies? Or would you support them because you knew they would better the nation? Obama said of Lincoln, “For the time came to confront the greatest moral challenge this nation has ever faced, this all-too-human man did not pass the challenge on to future generations.”
A challenge stands before us today. We can blame the intolerant among us and pass it on, saying that America is not yet ready for a black president. Or we can accept that the hateful will always threaten and take lives away, but it is only us who rob our nation of inspiration and change.
Communication junior Nausheen Shaikh can be reached at [email protected].
