Canvassing in Raymond and Bristol, New Hampshire

Originally Posted to firesofcreation.gaia.com on Nov 3rd, 2008

Went canvassing in New Hampshire this weekend and had some interesting experiences. Overall, everyone in NH was very friendly including McCain supporters. There were however some notable exceptions. 

I went canvassing in a retirement community in Bristol similar to a gated community with one entrance but no gate or signs reading "no trespassing" or "no canvassing." It was part of the route assigned to me and a friend. We probably knocked on over fifteen doors at this place and had a mixed bag of McCain and Obama supporters. One McCain supporter talked to us for about ten minutes and we ended in a respectful manner upon realizing that neither side was going to budge on our convictions. 

We knocked on another house and then continued to our last address when we heard a voice from behind yelling, "Get out of here!" We turned around and there's this guy probably in his fifties or sixties storming towards us. He continues, "If you don't get out of here I'm going to call the cops." 

My friend replies calmly, "We have a legal right to be here." The guy just continues warning us and threatening with a call to the police. At this point my friend replies, "Fine, go ahead and call the cops because we're not leaving."

Once this fellow realized we couldn't be intimidated, his real issue came out in the open. "You ni**er lovers better get out of here."

My friend and I were appalled; this is 2008 New Hampshire, not 1950 Alabama. We went on our way and this guy went on his without further incident but it definitely gave us pause and made me want to write about it in my blog. Although we've come far as a nation and are so close to electing a person of color president, we can't forget that there is much more to be done such as exposing this kind of racism for what it is; an attempt to cling to the past and avoid embracing our destiny. 

Barack Obama has become an icon and much more than just a presidential candidate. He is also a symbol of our future. I was living in California in the year 2000, the year when white people in the state no longer held a majority. California is now a melting pot with 50% whites and the rest a mixture of Asians, Hispanics, African Americans and countless others. Like California, Barack is a window into our world's future with a destiny of dark and light, yin and yang united. 

After the incident, my friend came up with of a good comeback he wished he had thought of in time for this guy's tirade. "If you kick us out, you'll have to kick out half your residents who are also ni**er lovers." For those people who are racist and believe a vote for Barack is a betrayal of the white race, what about the white side of Barack? Everywhere he goes he is seen as a "black man" as if we should ignore the fact that he is also half Anglo European and has a family tree connected to George Bush and Dick Cheney.

I hope that white Americans will see themselves in Barack Obama just as much as black Americans do. Unless we see both Yin and Yang, black and white, as two sides of the same coin that makes America great, we will never reach our potential destiny as a nation and example to the world about what is truly possible when humanity sets aside their external differences for what unites us on the inside. Only then can we catch a glimpse into what is on the horizon for our species when both sides of the duality come together and form a more perfect union.