My 84 year old Mississipi mother

[harrison]

is voting for Barack Obama. This would be a white woman, fyi, who was born in deep poverty and was engendered with a certain belief system about race. However, like so many people in the Deep South, she confronted her belief system and she changed. She has been vocal in her support of Barack Obama, and that he is a good man and the best person for the job.

However, she notes that some of her neighbors aren't going to vote for Obama because "he is Muslim."

She will correct them and say, "Oh, but he is a Christian." Then she adds, "They can't say out loud that they won't vote for him because he is black, so they have to say that."

She is thoroughly disgusted with the Republicans and with McCain and says that all Palin wants to do is "get up in front of crowds and show off, being cute."

And by the way, when I saw the people in line at Lehigh being interviewed about Barack Obama, I had a flashback to some meanness that I saw on a regular basis, about forty years ago, down in Mississippi during the civil rights days.

To paraphrase Dr. King when he led a march in Chicago which turned into a violent episode, "Those folks ought to go down to Mississippi and teach them how to hate." Well you folks in Pennsylvania making those comments should have been living down among the "rednecks" in Mississippi about forty years ago. You would have fit right in.

Sadly, bigotry is still present and it has nothing to do with vocal chord vibrations and state lines; it has mostly to do with the state of mind and the state of the soul.

Well, if my mother can change, there is hope for those folks up in Pennsylvania, but they might have to spend some time on their knees, searching their hearts, and ridding themselves of their hate. Instead, I spect that most of those people will be in church on Sunday morning beseeching the Lord to save us from this "Arab" rather than doing a little soul searching. It has always been easier to scapegoat someone else than confront the own truth about yourself.

[msblueinredstate]

1. My 90 year old Mississippi Mother

is voting for him too. She is also white!! :applause:

[Cha]

4. Great! There's a lot to be proud

of here because of the way the Culture is..a Black man for President of the United States of America!:toast::patriot::kick::party::bounce:

[Cha]

2. Sweet..that's so something

to be proud of. That you're brought up one way but are able to see that it's not right.

[thesubstanceofdreams]

3. What if he was a muslim?

Of course he's not a muslim, but not voting for a candidate because of his religion is just as ugly as not voting for him because of his skin color.

[Omnibus]

7. He is a muslin, and worships satin

It was posted on Free Republic, so it must be true!

Although it does sound fabricated.

[tblue37]

14. I have always been partial to velvet myself. nt

[Hansel]

5. This is so awesome. Good for your Mother!

I was a Northern girl living in Mississippi as a teenager during segregation. It was a real eye opener. This says so much about your Mother that she could be so open minded after living so many years in that culture. I bet you are so proud.

When Obama won the primary in Mississippi I cried. I couldn't have imagined 36 years ago that that could ever happen there. It says a lot for Mississippi to have grown so much in such a relatively short period of time. I'm sure it's got a ways to go, but so does Minnesota apparently. Maybe the bigots at the Minnesota town hall meeting can change too. They are such an embarrassment.

Edited to add: Same for you MSBlueInRedState. This is just awesome.

And BTW, it seems to say something pretty good about you 2 as well.

[Hepburn]

6. Go Obama Mama!

Off to the Greatest Page with you!

K&R...:hi:

[lithiumbomb]

8. my grandmother "evolved," as my mom put it

My mother's family - her two sisters and her parents, grew up reasonably poor in rural Georgia in the 1930s-50s. I only knew my grandmother for the final third of her life, from her 60s to her death in 2005 at age 98. At the end of her life, her best friend on earth was an elderly african-american lady who also happened to be jewish. I never considered that my grandmother didn't used to be this way, but my mom said she used to be a racist like lots of other whites at the time.

My grandfather was apparently horribly racist. He would leave the room when a black man appeared on the TV. I don't believe my grandmother did the same, but all she knew was racism, so she was one as well. My mom, despite her parents, knew something was wrong with The Way Things Were back then. Her ride to school took her to past the school where the black children went. It was run down and in very poor shape. Even at an early age she knew this wasn't right.

In the early 1960s, my grandfather passed away and my grandmother and mother moved to Atlanta and got an apartment together. I'm not sure if it was before or during this time, but my mom said that my grandmother "evolved."

She was not perfect, she did still use the word "colored." However it was limited to the different periods of her life. If she was referring to an african-american person she knew early in her life, she referred to them as "colored." If it was an african-american person she knew later in her life, she referred to them as black.

If she was still here I suspect she would vote for Obama. She hated Bush. But she hated Hoover even more. :)

So some people can be shown the light. It just may take a while.

As an aside, in 2005 she said "This reminds me of the time before the great depression. " And... look where we are today. Hold on to your hats.

[jillan]

9. I love stories like this one!

Give your mom lots of hugs, she is a great lady.

[nickyt]

10. The Truth shall set us FREE!! You give your mama one large hug for me, please!

[Divernan]

11. The middle of Pennsylvania is called Pensyltucky. Very low income/education population

But don't worry - those of us in Phillie and Pittsburgh will come through bigtime for Obama!

[cali]

12. Your mother sounds wonderful. My 89 year old mother is

also voting for Obama, but it didn't involve and challenge to her belief system. She was brought up largely in Europe and she's always been a liberal dem.

[Fly by night]

13. My 87 year old Mississippi aunt and uncle are voting for Obama, ...

... even though their oldest daughter was a Republican candidate for judge in Lowndes county. I am so proud of them and thankful for their votes. It may help that my great niece (who my aunt and uncle baby-sat regularly) is our family's Barack (white mother, black father) -- a real sweet, smart and athletic little girl.

As for racism, I've heard much more overt racism in Wyoming (directed at Indian people there) than I've heard in Mississippi in quite some time. We confronted our racism quite directly a long time ago. Now, this morning, I will drive to Starkville to watch Vanderbilt beat Mississippi State (I hope). The MSU Bulldogs will be represented on the field by a team that is 80%+ black. I guess when all the old Rebels used to shout, "The South will rise again", they didn't realize it would be in Wyoming and Pennsylvania.

[RubyDuby in GA]

15. My 89 year old Georgia grandmother has already voted for Obama!

Sweet! :)