When I got to Georgia in mid-June, I decided to go to an employment agency for help finding a job.  Within twenty minutes, he asked me to show him my LinkedIn, which I did.  He, a black man, tsk-tsked and said that I should remove my picture from LinkedIn, Facebook and any other web presence because he didn’t want me to be looked over for a job because I’m black. He continued, “We are still in the south. You can’t be too careful.”

Uhm, excuse me? Does this world still exist? Call me crazy, but I didn’t think that is it would be useful or in my best interest to remove my gorgeous face from the internet. I mean, bottom line—if an employer doesn’t like my looks (for any reason) then that’s likely not a job I want to have.  And I was shocked and appalled to be receiving that piece of advice.

Then I start reading the NYT this morning and there are a series of articles on Prez Obama and whether race is an issue in terms of how he’s been treated during this Health Care debacle. And I think back to all the hateful thinks that I’ve heard and seen this summer during the tea parties that the Republicans have sponsored around the country.  They seem to attack his heritage as much as his policies. It makes me rethink my view of racism in America. Maybe it’s not dead like I thought. So I wonder, when will racism die in America?

Lately, I’ve seen pictures on Obama with defaced with a Hitler-ish mustache (which I think is the stupidest thing ever) and I hear that he’s being compared to Nazis, fascists and other dictators. (Again, these comparisons are illogical. Check your history, jackasses.) What are these protesters and other oppositionists thinking? These pictures just make them look as stupid as they sound.

Do they hate him because they really think that this Administration is being fiscally irresponsible (Seriously, where have this people been hiding for the past 8 years?!?!) Or do they hate him because he’s black?

Even contemplating that question makes me sad.