astrotriforce

@EpicSteve: I actually believe he won because he is black. A lot of people wanted to see a change in the course of the nation, but just as many wanted a black President, and I believe that's what put him over the top and allowed him to defeat Hillary Clinton. And why, obviously, he gets such a high percentage of the black vote. Which I don't have any beef with, hell I was extremely happy to see our first black President. I could only imagine how actual black people felt. I was sad McCain lost but extremely happy for minorities who finally got their wish and I believe it was a momentous day in our history and one to be proud of. Very interesting though, PM me if you find the video I'd like to see it.

Still looking for another post that's actually on topic though. >_< Maybe I should edit my first post.....

@TooWalrus: Of course, but I'm not gonna post it here. That's like throwing a nice plump, juicy steak to a pack of ravenous wolves who haven't eaten in a month. Look what's happened already. I probably should've censored my post from Conservative viewpoints to satisfy liberal eyes and keep the post on the topic of the children.... oh well. Still hoping for more posts like @crusader8463 's. But not confident it'll happen.

@TooWalrus: That's like me asking why anyone would ever apply favorite to Obama or Clinton. It's beyond my understanding. But others think otherwise. I want to hear more stories of race through a kids' eyes when they were young anyway.

@Phatmac said:

You lost me when you said that Bush was your favorite president. I respect the Republican Party but that statement is insane to even say in jest.

Nope.

@Flawed_System: Thanks for staying on topic. I don't think it is a factor for most kids either, they are focused on playing. It DOES become a factor as you get older though and start to enter Junior High, which is when bullying really starts and kids start to form into groups. I was mostly talking about say, under 12. As for race relations, I think Obama just as a symbol has improved things because it has shown that anyone can be President regardless of color. Obviously I wish John McCain would've won the election, but I'm happy Obama did for that reason alone.

@crusader8463 said:

I never met my first non-white person until I was in my early teens. I live in a part of the country where there just is nothing but white people. So when I met the first person who was not white it was certainly an odd experience for me. I was raised not to care about someones race so it doesn't matter to me, but I would be lying if I said that I didn't stare longer then I probably should have because it was my first time seeing someone of a different race then myself on anything but TV and it was an experience for me at the time.

Over the last ten or so years however, this has changed as the colleges in my area opened policies that gave priority into accepting foreign people over local people because foreign people, in this case mainly Chinese people, would happily pay 2-3 times what local people would pay for the same classes so that they can then go back to china with these degrees. Now whenever you go into the city you see a good mix of white and Asian people. White people still out number them probably 10 to 1, but there's been a growing mix of diversity over the last ten or so years. Black, Hispanic and Indian people are still rare to see around here but it's starting to mix up.

The reason I say this is because even though I grew up in a world that had no diversity when it came to other peoples races, the only reason I grew up being accepting was because I was raised by a mother that taught me to respect people. It has nothing to do with growing up in an area with a mix of everything or kids not caring about skin colour. If my parents had of even just said nothing about other races other then off hand comments about how you can't trust such and such a race then I would have grown up not trusting other races because at some point in my past when I was learning how to be a human I heard that those people can't be trusted.

Racism and intolerance is something that is taught or picked up by the way other people act around you as you grow up and is not something that comes naturally. Nor is being accepting of other peoples races. Both are something that need to be taught and learned over a life time.

Thank you so much for your response! That is really interesting to read. It seems that, as far as race relations in America are concerned, people forget and flat-out seem to ignore Asians. They also have very specific experiences and you always hear media talk about black and hispanic, NEVER Asian or Native American (I have quite a few native friends, but you never even hear them mentioned). I think staring at someone for a while as a kid is natural, if they are different than you. And it can be for a wide variety of reasons, not just skin color. I'm glad for you that you become more tolerant, I think that prejudice is innate, like you said, because people generally stay with what they can relate to. But I think racism is completely different. I think everyone would prefer to be with the familiar, for example, Mexicans like to eat Mexican food or talk in Spanish instead of English, and that makes sense. Doesn't make it racist, just means you have a slight prejudice towards what you are into or grow up as, and a lot of times in groups people will generally gravitate towards people of like race because they share that in common. Although I think as kids this isn't the case when they are mixed for the most part, it only comes about as they get older. Like a bias. And that's normal.

I think it's interesting that you mention off-hand comments. I do think it shapes a child to some degree, but nothing shapes it as much as playing with kids of other races, which erases most of those thoughts that are put in you by your parents or whatnot, as you know that they aren't true. What country are you from if I may ask?

@laserbolts: Just sharing a thought I found interesting. Happy I don't stop reading once I hear the word Obama like some people. Or I never would've finished that interesting article on race relations in the post Obama world.

I read an article from the Washington Post that talked about race relations and Obama's successes and failures therein, including a video interview with the parents and the black kid who touched Obama's hair. He wanted to see if it felt the same as his. During the interview, the dad said that kids see the world through colored lenses, essentially.

While I think that may have been true for their generation and probably is, I think for modern kids, race is so far out of their minds, and they are so use to it, that segregation is 100% foreign to them.

Here is how I think race relations through a kids eyes go: (full comment I left, first to the article and then to my thoughts on race and kids):

As a Hispanic Republican, I found this to be a very interesting piece on President Obama and I am glad that we had our first black President. And I will always be proud of Obama for that, and display his photos proudly along with my favorite President, George W. Bush and previous Presidents. Having said that, I couldn't disagree more with his politics and policies, and I wish it was Herman Cain or Condi Rice who would've been elevated to his position instead. Or say, Colin Powell. Cain was my choice for Republican nominee, although I ended up with Newt as my primary choice, while voting for Santorum in my home state of Arizona. Romney was my last (excluding Paul), but he has my full support and I'll be voting for him proudly.

I also must take issue with the dad's statement that kids see the world in terms of color. I think it couldn't be further from the truth, at least for modern kids. Maybe for him it is true, as I live in a world where segregation is unthinkable and 100% foreign. Growing up in a half-Mexican, half-white (mom is white, dad is Mexican, grandpa spoke Spanish) household, it wasn't until I was in my teen years that I even realized that dad was darker than us. I had never really thought about it.

As a kid, we had tons of Mexican friends and lots of white friends. This is the thought process of a kid like me, who was born in the mid-80s. You go outside, you find a friend, and all you care about is if they are going to be from Mortal Kombat, Power Rangers, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or superheroes. Once the choice is made, or we'll do a mix and add videogame characters in there as well, are we going to play with powers? (i.e. you can shoot fireballs, create earthquakes, control fire or ice to freeze the other guy, etc.) or WITHOUT powers (martial arts only, like in Power Rangers). THAT is the only choice that a kid cares about.

Skin tone is thought about for about half a second, and then you start arguing about whether his punch actually counts or not or whether you really did dodge the fireball since, you can't, after all, see it. So it's all about "selling" that you dodged it and your foe accepting the reality. After the fight (we called it either "playfighting" as in "do you want to playfight?" or "characters" as in "Do you want to play characters?") you go inside, get a soda, and play videogames.

That is the thinking process of a child. Color does NOT enter the equation, and never did for my Mexican friends playing with whites, or I'm sure for blacks playing with whites either. It's not like you don't notice it, but it doesn't matter. No one cares. It has no weight. They have more important decisions on their mind like who gets to be Iron Man and whether the black kid actually gets to be the Black Ranger or whether the white kid is going to fight to get the Black Ranger position, at which point the black kid will probably be happy to be the Green, Wihte or Red Ranger instead. "It's Morphin' Time!"

:) *goes to play Resident Evil Zero*

So I wrote my first ever Guest Article for the website GenGame, and they published it as part of their Countdown to Wii U series! My article was one of the first published, landing on Day 25 of the countdown, making it the fifth published article in the series.

Be sure to give it a look and leave a comment! :) So far it got almost universe praise in the comments section. With people saying they love me, that I must be from the same mother, that they agree completely with my sentiments, giving me thanks, and all that. I think it was a hit! :D

Btw in case you missed it, CNN has now backtracked on the Libya issue, saying Candy was wrong to correct Romney. And that her and Obama were wrong on the issue. The damage may already be done on how it was perceived as to who won on a false premise however. So we'll see what happens.