A few weeks ago, I was reading a Times article in which one person wrote a letter to the editor about Hillary Clinton. The reader said that he was democratic, he agreed with all her views, and he liked her just in general as a person, but he refused to vote for her. I was initially confused as to why he would be so against the woman, but I soon stumbled upon it. He didn't like her last name. He was afraid that if she was elected president, it would set up a Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton dynasty. I was outraged.
Sure, I've heard about prejudice since I was five, and I know prejudice can be for race, sex, religion, world views, sexuality, and basically anything. However, I was not prepared for prejudice against a last name in these current days. To me, this seemed a thing of the past, something that happened in the Dark and Middle ages. Not in our 21st-century, progressive society.
It seems as if this year's presidential election has become a race based on hard facts about the candidates that cannot be changed instead of their proposal. Yes, we're going to vote for Obama because he's black. No, we're not going to vote for him for the same reason. I'm a woman; I have to vote for Hilary. No, I'm not going to vote for Hilary just because her husband was once the President.
I probably shouldn't be that surprised. In many ways, this race is just reflecting our society. In some ways, we've come so far(we've actually let the two main presidential candidates be a black man and a woman), yet we still have so far to go. In the area where I live, if you have the right last name(or the wrong one) you can get out of anything(or be accused of anything.) If you're black or Hispanic, you're going to be eyed with more suspicion than a white person.
So if I'm so used to this prejudice running through my town, why am I so shocked to find it reflected on a national level? Maybe I just thought our nation was a little more advanced than my small-Texan hick town that I thought was stuck in the 1950s, but apparently our entire nation has a lot more growing to do before we conquer prejudice.
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I don't know how much this is a prejudice, because although I do not totally agree with the person's reasoning, it still is fairly legitamate.
I think would find this reason legitamate if we had a different government system, like if the President was just appointed by Congress or something, but since the PEOPLE are the ones who decide the President, I still think Clinton is being judged by this particular person( and others too, I'm sure) by her name. I don't even like Clinton, but this particular opinion made my blood boil. I know they are entitled to their own opinion and I respect that, but something with it just didn't sit right with me.
Stormy
i agree with u on the prejudice thing. its pretty dumb in this day and age, and with how far we've come. I'm a very opinionated democrat however. so needless to say i don't much like our current president. I find the "Bush-Clinton-Bush-Clinton dynasty" comment amazingly hillarious. it's pretty ironic too because there is Jeb Bush who was wanting to run for the presidency after his term as govenor of florida ended.
I personally understand where that guy was coming from. I know that she shouldn't be completely judged by her husband, but in all honestly he is her husband and he does have an impact. Therefore, her name will make a difference.
I heard a quote that was pretty catchy: "It takes a Clinton to clean up after a Bush". If people saw this point of view, perhaps Hillary wouldn't be having such a hard time.