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Before we begin, please take a moment to see how far south I live.
+ Show Spoiler +
So, when the 2008 election was underway, I was in middle school, and I immediately noticed a strong hatred toward Obama. Exclusively Obama. The most common rumors were that he was a muslim, he wasn't born in the US, and, my favorite, he is the antichrist. When he was elected, I remember the hysteria all around school, and the rumors just got more intensified. Two things stood out:
- I was talking to the band director in the morning because he is a cool (and sane) person, then my classmate comes up and says, "Mr. Peerson, do you wanna come help assassinate the President with me?" Then the band director just fussed the kid saying how it is never okay to say that under any circumstance.
- Some girl had a little circle of people listening to her story. I managed to catch the retelling of it shortly after, and the story goes: "The bible says that a black Muslim man will appear, and everyone will like him. After four years, he will disappear and will return as the antichrist on Armageddon." I asked her where she read this in the bible...her reply, "Oh my friend just told me that." It coincided with the 2012 doomsday, so that is why people actually gave two shits.
But, I didn't care about politics at all at the time, so I didn't pay attention to it until high school.
So hear comes high school, and the typical Obama hate continues (however, it is more politically correct now), but again, I don't care. Then the Obama hate starts peaking my interest in 10th grade when I had Civics class. Luckily, my teacher was really good at keeping discussion on a specific issue, not letting it extend into candidates or anything. The only notable thing I remember was some guy saying how he hates Obama and directly follows it up with "Mrs. Friedlander, you know who I like? Glenn Beck, dat man is smart." My teacher's reaction, an obviously forced smile and a rapid nod, was priceless. "That's your opinion," she quickly said moving onto the next topic immediately.
And now here I am in 11th grade, and I become a little more interested in politics. That really just means I am subscribed to the Republican nominations thread and TPM's Youtube Channel. And for some reason, this blind Obama hate, which is intensified because of the election, is just irking me more and more. And I had Economics last semester and US History this semester. So any random and insignificant thing can instantly transform into a flurry of Obama insults. People don't even talk about the republican candidates. It is literally 100% anti-Obama speech. It isn't even specific things they hate, it is only different iterations of "Obama spends too much," "Obama doesn't do anything," and "Obama sucks." It consists of literally nothing else.
It fucking blows my mind. How can people see in such black and white? I would really like to know where their information comes from too because everyone says this stuff. Wait, what information? They don't even say anything relevant. They do not say, "Well Obama spent $ on so-and-so project, and that is a waste." The only thing that can come out their mouth is the different iterations of those three quotes above.
Last week, a girl who thought Ethiopia was a disease was leading an anti-Obama squawking session in US History. Just today (my motivation for writing this blog), the class's smartest girl was leading an anti-Obama squawking session in French class. In fucking French class.
I don't even have an opinion on politics because I consider myself too uninformed to have a credible opinion...yet these people are so opinionated. I don't want to sound like an elitist ass, but I seriously doubt that they do any research besides shitty TV news channels and their parents. It kind of sort of makes sense for parents to hate Obama because he isn't raping the Gulf of Mexico out of her oil and more drilling directly increases my area's economy tenfold....but why are these high school students so blindly against Obama.
I don't really know what else to say...I just felt like ranting. Anyway, I guess I can end this blog with a question: Do they have a certain political atmosphere in your area/school? Is a love or hate for one candidate overwhelming?
Thank you for your time.
 
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Where do most kids get their hate from?? Their parents lol.. Also fox doesn't help much these days.. Sorry to hear about that kind of stuff, its a little different up in NY ha : )
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Two answers for your main question.
Racism and blind republicanism. (Would say conservatism, but I don't think it's ideological)
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The blind hate is because people can. Just like the blind like for Obama as well. Without getting too much into politics, people are very opinionated even if they don't know shit about the subject. A lot of people also like Obama for no good reason as well, you just seem to be focusing on the negative end of it. The general masses don't know shit about politics, yet their the ones who vote people in. /logic.
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Living in the north and never having been down south I typically have my own stereotypes, but is it basically true that like a ton of people are super religious/anti gay/conservative? Even the young people? I could honestly never imagine that where I live.
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Wow i didn't know such ignorance actually still existed. Clearly i set my bar to high.
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You're the kind of person that needs to represent that area of the United States. All everyone else hears about is what you described, uneducated people hating Obama for irrational reasons. If you are from that area and you can clearly see the stereotype everyone else sees, you should seriously look into political office around Louisiana. It'd probably never work because if you supported Obama, they wouldn't support you, but places like that can harbor hate if it's just part of their culture and they won't change unless someone from that area decides to change it.
People are like that everywhere though; they hear something and then tell someone else an even worse version of what they heard and the hate spreads like wild fire. My only suggestion is to always keep your eye on the line that you see people cross, and make sure you don't cross the line in the opposite direction.
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so how's the local ku klux klan chapter doing
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Obama's awesome. Dumb people can't see that.
Should be the next campaigns motto.
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They just repeat whatever their parents say, I guarantee 90% of those kids have no idea about anything regarding politics. There were plenty of people at my high school like that (same goes for the other side of the political spectrum). I for one choose to remain ignorant and not give a shit, rather watch starcraft or something nomsayin?
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Where do you live?
I live in Massachusetts, and either everyone loves him or a few people(like me) tend to be more skeptical, but prefer him against Romney or Santorum greatly.
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As someone who leans libertarian I can tell you Obama is not my favorite person in the world (understatement). But if my Poli Sci education has taught me anything, it's making politics personal is stupid. Yes I strongly strongly dislike Obama's domestic agenda, but I still can't stand listening to people rant about it.
You want to do something about Obama? Go volunteer for the Romney campaign, go volunteer for the RNC, for goodness sake go vote; ranting about it accomplishes nothing other than supremely annoying people.
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i hear the same shit against romney (gingrich too, but he is a scumbag so its probably true). welcome to politics and uninformed opinions.
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i don't hate Obama, but i definitely sympathize with your classmates. i wonder, why do you not like Glenn Beck? the tone of your story implied that this guy was a complete moron because he said he likes Glenn Beck and thinks that he is smart, so what facts and figures do you have for your opinion that Glenn Beck isn't smart? any specifics, or just little tidbits like "he's crazy" or "he's stupid! faux news!!" or some variation of those two statements?
and, i don't want to sound mean, but you definitely come off as elitist here. not that it's not normal for a young kid who is probably smart to be a little elitist, Lord knows that I was. but you do come off as "oh man, I am so smart and better because I refuse to have an opinion and my classmates are so stupid because they have an opinion i don't agree with and they don't back it up with facts."
this in particular made me laugh:
It kind of sort of makes sense for parents to hate Obama because he isn't raping the Gulf of Mexico out of her oil and more drilling directly increases my area's economy tenfold....but why are these high school students so blindly against Obama.
sounds like you do have an opinion... a relatively uninformed opinion. maybe even a few opinions. further more, if the economy is bad in your area, and could be better, why is it so strange that these kids would also want that? or are parents the only ones who are allowed to want more jobs?
I don't want to sound like an elitist ass, but I seriously doubt that they do any research besides shitty TV news channels and their parents.
that is an opinion that is unfounded. honestly, what research do you want these people to do? not everyone can be political scientists, and there is nothing wrong with an uneducated opinion. if you think there is, well then i will have to call you elitist, because that's like, the definition of elitism.
How can people see in such black and white?
because they are young, and also because a lot of times, that's the way things are. also, i could easily say:
"It fucking blows my mind, yo! How can you see things as grey when they are so clearly black and white?"
i would say, hey. people think a lot of things. they have a lot of different opinions. sometimes those opinions are not based on facts and figures, and sometimes those opinions are, god forbid, based on something they heard on the television. (oh heavens no! not that!!) does this mean that they are wrong? not really. does it mean that they are stupid? not really. does it mean that sitting on the fence is wrong, stupid, smart, or right? not really. it means that people are people, and try to remember that you aren't as different from the people you described as you think you are.
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Racism and blind republicanism. (Would say conservatism, but I don't think it's ideological)
Racism exists in all political parties. If you don't see that you're blind. A black man can be just as racist as white man, a yellow man or a purple man.
Also, certainly people will have differing viewpoints in politics. Its a bunch of malarky anyway. Pandering to people just to "win" an electron. If you are looking to win an election, you are doing it wrong. Politics should not be a race.
edit: lawl winning an electron. Congratulations on your spin 1/2 particle. Now go do some Fermi statistics.
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Sounds pretty awful. When/if you decide to get a higher education you will meet smarter, more open and generally cooler people! Just hang in there 
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On April 10 2012 09:23 sc2superfan101 wrote:because they are young, and also because a lot of times, that's the way things are. also, i could easily say: "It fucking blows my mind, yo! How can you see things as grey when they are so clearly black and white?" i would say, hey. people think a lot of things. they have a lot of different opinions. sometimes those opinions are not based on facts and figures, and sometimes those opinions are, god forbid, based on something they heard on the television. (oh heavens no! not that!!) does this mean that they are wrong? not really. does it mean that they are stupid? not really. does it mean that sitting on the fence is wrong, stupid, smart, or right? not really. it means that people are people, and try to remember that you aren't as different from the people you described as you think you are.
Has nothing to do with youth, it's just as bad or worse as people get older.
The real fact is because people so rarely actually stop to think through what they are believing in, or actually look at what academic evidence tells them. Most people are far more content to believe in what their specific ideology teaches them, take in the evidence that supports their belief and ignore or belittle the evidence that contradicts their ideology.
Ideology can be a scary powerful thing, it's caused world wars, supported genocides, and torn nations apart. There's a real psychological phenomenon that occurs, it's not just people being "stupid". There have actually been some good academic books written about it, Murry Edleman's book The Political Spectacle comes to mind.
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On April 10 2012 08:53 Itsmedudeman wrote:
Living in the north and never having been down south I typically have my own stereotypes, but is it basically true that like a ton of people are super religious/anti gay/conservative? Even the young people? I could honestly never imagine that where I live.
As the Cajun culture is dying (sadly  ) and the internet is becoming more popular, the super religious/anti gay/conservative people are becoming less and less. Although you can still definitely see the remnants in a lot of the older generation, only a few young people (I can name 5 extremist in my class off the top of my head) are still like that. For example, my grandmother still uses the "N word" very liberally. Even though I disagree (not openly) with her on a lot of things, I can't really blame her because that is simply how she grew up all her life. My mom and dad still use it when they want to emphasize on the black aspect of someone. My parents (unsure about my grandmother) don't use it publicly though. However, the "extremist" in my class are more politically correct (because school has taught us to be from very early on), but they still are very conservative, religious, and anti-gay marriage. If you have more specific questions about the "south" lifestyle, I'd be happy to answer because I really like to teach others and learn about other culture.
On April 10 2012 09:02 Kraznaya wrote:
so how's the local ku klux klan chapter doing
Due to the history of Cajuns, I live in a Catholic community, so the KKK doesn't really exist in this specific area. KKK are also anti-Catholic btw.
On April 10 2012 09:08 Praetorial wrote:
Where do you live?
If you look in the picture of the spoiler tag, I live in the highlighted parish (county) of Louisiana...so that is about as far south as possible. Fun Fact: Louisiana still uses the term "Parishes" instead of counties. "A parish is a territorial unit historically under the pastoral care and clerical jurisdiction of one parish priest." - Wikipedia
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I am impressed that an 11th grader is showing such interest in politics. (I am 28 and in law school now, after spending a couple of years teaching English in Japan, so I do a lot of reading and am interested in politics now - but I was certainly not so interested in 11th grade.)
By writing this post you have demonstrated that you are already beyond the level of your classmates. By which I mean, it's one thing to blindly follow what everyone else is saying without any knowledge to back it up, but it's another thing to do your research. You are asking the right question, "Why all the reflexive hate?" It's fine to be anti-Obama if you genuinely have arrived at that opinion from education. Believing idiotic rumors about how he is a Muslim doesn't count.
Questioning what others tell you and doing research for yourself is the best way to form your own opinions.
Hearing stories like this one reminds me how grateful I should be to live in NYC... People are generally open minded about diversity here.
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On April 10 2012 09:45 Whole wrote:
However, the "extremist" in my class are more politically correct (because school has taught us to be from very early on), but they still are very conservative, religious, and anti-gay marriage.
That's not an extremist, what you just described is a good chunk of people in the United States. One can be opposed to or in support of gay marriage without being on an extreme end of the political spectrum.
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EPT![[image loading]](http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/5/5e/Map_of_Louisiana_highlighting_Lafourche_Parish.svg/666px-Map_of_Louisiana_highlighting_Lafourche_Parish.svg.png)
