Why I Voted for Barack Obama

As I work outside of Arlington, Virginia, I had the option to vote early this year. I am grateful for this option. In the last two Presidential elections I stood in line for upwards of 2 hours. I can only imagine how long the lines will be this year.

So how did I get to my decision? Listening and thinking critically. I have a master's degree in literature and wrote my thesis on Toni Morrison's novels. I used the theories of French psychoanalytic theorist Jacques Lacan. In particular, I studied how Morrison's language was intentionally designed to evoke metanarratives of the construction of racial identity in America. The desire to be loved drove Pecola to desire the bluest eye and ultimately into madness.

I share that so you know whence I come.

Last night, I was at the Reston Arts for Obama Art Auction. I donated a painting and was invited to attend the event. At the auction, the attendees were diverse and friendly art lovers. My kind of people. My piece did really well at auction and the event raised over $20,000. One of the auction pieces, by my friend P. Delia Chisholm, was a fun and inspired image that captured the sense of hope and community I've heard again and again in Obama campaign and in his autobiography. I hear talk of responsibility, of accountability, of coming together and solving problems. This rhetoric is a welcome relief. An oasis in the desert of the divisive language of the last 8 years.

And then. Oh. And then. I took my car into the shop. In the waiting room, they had Fox & Friends on a jumbo flat screen television. The volume was at 11. I sat with my earplugs and tried to read but was oft thwarted. Even through the earplugs, I heard them report that police in Oakland and Detroit were preparing for riots if Obama loses. That report was followed by details of the story of a woman who alleged she had been beaten up and a letter "B" cut on her face. It was a frightening scary picture. And it was reported that the perpetrator did this to her when he found out she was a McCain supporter.

And it was a hoax.

I am not focused on this woman who clearly needs help. My focus is on the news networks that featured prominently a story that had not been fact-checked and verified.

After being in the room with Fox & Friends for two hours, even I felt (a little) that the election was really close, that trouble and chaos could be coming, and concerned about voter fraud. I know how the stories are constructed. I understand the metanarratives at work. I can see the desire of the powerful to hold onto control. I can feel their fear. It is all constructed in the language. The subtle and not-so subtle choice of words. The juxtaposition of images.

I voted for Barack Obama because I heard something different from him. No cheap shots. A man who learns from his mistakes. A man who is not afraid of a strong woman. I could go on. The difference in these two recent events is what is at stake - are we coming together and learning to deal with our differences or are we grabbing for power at any cost? To me, that was the choice.