What Is This World Coming To?

A new article in Newsweek discusses the possibility of Senator Obama losing his Presidential bid and touches on the effect it will have on racial tensions in the United States.

In the African-American community, the thinking on Obama’s candidacy has gone something like this: In the beginning, there was disbelief that a black man could become president. Then, when Obama became the Democratic nominee and soared in the polls, listeners were concerned for his safety. Now that the race with John McCain is as tight as Sarah Palin’s smile, (the black community) has started to worry about Election Day itself. There is still a fair amount of optimism in the black community, but it’s being tempered by two words: what if. What if Obama loses? How should people respond? What should they feel?

The article also suggests that an Obama loss would automatically incite anger, but quickly drops the issue:

There’s not a lot of anger—yet—but you can start to sense the potential for it. “I’m going to be mad, real mad, if he doesn’t win,” says Daetwon Fisher, 21, a construction worker from Long Beach, Calif. “Because for him to come this far and lose will be just shady and a slap in black people’s faces. I know there is already talk about protests and stuff if he loses, and I’m down for that.”

This brings up the ever increasing certainty of racial relations AFTER the election… they won’t be good. In fact, they promise to be worse.  That is what Bob Parks of “Black and Right” fears: