It's dishonorable to vote based on race or gender

Editor,

Are you voting for a person based on race or gender? If you are, your vote is dishonorable.

I heard an elderly woman on TV say she is voting for Sen. Hillary Clinton because she wants to see a woman president in her lifetime. I have a friend who is voting for a candidate only because she is Hispanic. Then, there are others who will vote for Sen. Barack Obama because he is African-American.

On Saturday Night Live, actor Chris Rock, an African-American, said, "I wonder who I'm going to vote for." Isn't it strange that African-Americans will vote for a person only based on his or her skin color?

Isn't that racist? Does this mean that whites will vote for whites, African-Americans for African-Americans and Hispanics for Hispanics? Shouldn't we then color all the candidates names matching the color of their skin so you don't mistakenly vote for the wrong person?

Do you vote according to last names, too? Wouldn't this be confusing, since a woman could use her maiden or married name, and you could mistakenly vote for a Hispanic?

I have heard other racist comments such as, "Obama should do well in the South due to the overwhelming number of African-American voters," "Hillary will do well in Texas," and "This area is predominantly white, and Hillary took that area."

I am also suspicious of African-American leaders endorsing Clinton. That suspicion is that they are only doing so because if Obama becomes the Democratic nominee, they can then say, "See, we didn't automatically endorse Obama just because he is African-American."

One extremely important issue that must be addressed is Obama's membership at the Trinity United Church of Christ, whose leader, Jeremiah Wright, preaches "black power" and blames Caucasians and capitalism for many of the problems facing African-Americans.

Did Obama or Oprah Winfrey walk out when they heard such racist comments, or did Wright refuse any of Winfrey's capitalist dollars? In fact, Wright was to be on stage and give an invocation for Obama when announcing his run for president.

Obama's campaign removed Wright from the roster the night before. This means Obama stood behind a racist preacher until the end. If Sen. John McCain or Clinton went to Ku Klux Klan meetings, I'm sure that would be an issue.

What if Obama loses? Will African-Americans, who overwhelmingly voted for him, riot, complaining that Caucasians were racists?

Here at UNM, we have many segregated groups based on the color of skin, race or gender. Aren't these groups discriminating against white people and men?

Nationally, we have the National Association of Black Journalists, Congressional Black Caucus, Hispanic Roundtable and many more. Can a Caucasian join those groups?

If not, they are racists. Is there a white journalists' group, and can you imagine the outrage if there was?

What is happening to America? Are we going backward to the days of segregation? There was hope that an African-American man or a woman could be president and that the racial divide had narrowed. But with many Americans basing their votes on skin color and gender, we are showing how divided we are.

Steve Chavez

UNM alumnus