An Opinion on Campbell Brown's "So what if Obama were a Muslim or an Arab?"

I would like to take this time to applaud Campbell Brown on CNN for correctly addressing the issue of Obama being an "Arab."

At one of McCain's rallies a few days ago, an ignorant and obviously uninformed woman called Obama an Arab.

Check it out for yourself here.

Although McCain did address the issue and set her straight, in my eyes it's really his campaign's fault that this image is being attached to Obama to begin with. Here's how I feel, whether people realize it or not, the word "terrorist" has a negative, connotated meaning attached to it. It's sad to say that the image most people get when they hear "terrorist" is a person of Middle Eastern descent. So whenever the McCain camp starts talking about how Obama was "palling around with terrorist" and how Ayers was a domestic terrorist 40 years ago, it sends the wrong message out to people. The bottom line is that Ayers was a "terrorist" (even though he is a REFORMED ONE and NOT Arab), Obama had an affiliation with him, and Obama's middle name is Hussein (which we will never stop hearing about because the McCain campaign continues to reiterate it) the McCain campaign is knowingly spreading and painting the wrong image to millions of Americans all over the country. Obama is not a Muslim, Obama is not an Arab, and Obama is not a terrorist. So why is this the implied message that everybody keeps on getting?

But this issue affects more than Obama and his campaign, think about the MILLIONS of Arab Americans that the McCain campaign and the media alienates every time something like this happens. That's not in any way a smart strategy to win this election, if anything it's extremely dangerous. There are extremist in every race, group, religion, and nationality whether people admit it or not (many people would be surprised to learn that the "Sons of Liberty," the patriotic group of Americans from the Revolutionary War, are categorized as TERRORISTS in British textbooks), but there are a lot more normal people from different backgrounds just trying to live their life everyday like you and me.

An even bigger problem that arises is what if Obama WAS an Arab? Why would that be a problem? In Brown's program, she stated:

When did that (being Arab) become a disqualifier for higher office in our country? When did Arab and Muslim become dirty words? The equivalent of dishonorable or radical? Whenever this gets raised, the implication is that there is something wrong with being an Arab-American or a Muslim. And the media is complicit here, too. We've all been too quick to accept the idea that calling someone Muslim is a slur. I feel like I am stating the obvious here, but apparently it needs to be said: There is a difference between radical Muslims who support jihad against America and Muslims who want to practice their religion freely and have normal lives like anyone else.

With all of this talk about "the race factor" in this election and all of the negative media being thrown back and forth between both campaigns, this was by far one of the most intelligent, refreshing words I've heard on a television program in months. It honestly breaks my heart knowing that there are so many people out there that are going to vote for somebody not because of his policies or his vision for this country, but because of the color of his skin or the religion he follows. Isn't this the United Sates of America?

The point that I'm trying to make is that a lot of Americans out there are getting the wrong message and the McCain camp is knowingly twisting the facts at hand to imply this message. Not only is the accusation that Obama has been "palling around with terrorist" completely inaccurate, but Obama being considered an Arab or Muslim is also false. And even if he was, why judge a candidate based off of such arbitrary standards? Vote for the person that you believe in your heart is fit to lead, regardless of skin or religion. In the words of Campbell Brown:

We can't tolerate this ignorance -- not in the media, not on the campaign trail. Of course, he's not an Arab. Of course, he's not a Muslim. But honestly, it shouldn't matter.