Can we get past this?

I grew up in an area that was both economically and culturally diverse; a rural school on the fringes of a city, and close to an Air Force base, it was both challenging and fortunate that at an early age I was immersed in a demographic that was quite complex for such a small school system: military brats and farmers kids, kids from Riverside, which was a minority-rich slice of the nearby city, poor kids, rich kids, of every religion, color and sexual orientation imaginable.

Whether it was that, or my family's general easygoing attitude towards ethnicity, that ultimately shaped my own, I never really think about a person's race unless they make it an issue. In my younger days I dated people of different colors than my own, not because or in spite of that, but because I just liked the person. I realise now, after a few decades on this planet, that not everyone thinks this way.

I grew up thinking that what made me a woman wasn't how I felt about kids, or marriage, or men. I was a woman simply by virtue of genetics, and I could do whatever I wanted with my life, be it a welder or a scientist, a homemaker or a singer.

My grandmother was a person of faith, but my parents really weren't...my dad was something akin to a modern Confucian, and my mother entirely too philosophical to devote herself to only Christian learning, having a keen interest in Eastern religion and history, she was more likely to be buried in a book by Thich Nhat Hanh or reading The Way of Lao Tzu than picking up the Bible. Of course we HAD a bible, because that was part of the whole learning process. But it wasn't learning to please God. It was learning for the sake of understanding. And as such, I had a pretty open mind about religion too, except for one nasty encounter with some evangelical Pentecostals in high school. My mom was the type that when the Jehovah's witnesses came to the door, she never turned them away, but would offer them tea and coffee and engage them in discourse for awhile. I always wondered why the heck she bothered, but as she said it, "They are doing what they believe they must, to save my soul. I may not agree with them, but their efforts are sincere, and I respect that."

They never really came around that much because I think my mom's keen Buddhist leanings mostly confused some of them. But she was always respectful of their faith, even as she passionately believed it had no business being used to dictating our politics, or our laws.

This is just how I was raised. Color was only as important as you make it, gender was a product of biology, and religion was treated with a sort of intellectual curiosity, a non-judgement, if you will, but also a degree of non-involvement. I wouldn't say any of us are atheists in our family, because in a way that slams the door on all that curiosity.

I simply don't understand why something as basic to our being as our color, gender, religion or sexuality must inevitably divide us so deeply from time to time. Which is why, perhaps, the hate towards people for their color, the vitriol spewed against women, or gays, or those who do or do not choose to practice the same religion (or in fact, any at all) continues to confuse me, as it generates so much controversy at an age where I continue to hope people will move beyond it. I saw it more than usual in this campaign and it was painful to watch, to think of how far we still need to go, when people can still come to harsh words even over the interpretation of slang terms.

I cannot figure out, is why, or how we move past it - all I know is that America MUST move past it, because failing to will only hurt her, and her citizens.

Of course I won't support any candidate for their color, or their gender....because this is not a contest about how good you are at being male or female, or at "being" your color (whatever the hell that would be), its a contest for the presidency. Its not about religion either, though that has certainly been used as a campaign tool on both sides.

Nothing about a campaign these days is a simple matter. There are genuine passions and fears, aspirations and firmly-held beliefs on BOTH sides, sometimes articulated well, sometimes, less so.

As such I should hope - and we should in fact, celebrate - that there might be gay black conservatives, devout Christian liberals, because its in the unexpected demographic the proof is exposed: that we are, in fact, much more than 2 warring camps of Americans.

If Obama makes it, its not just about a Democratic victory. Its the beginning of understanding that America never was one color...we just played it that way. America is, in fact, shaped by so many cultures and ethnicities that without the influence of each unique story, surely we would find it a very bland and changed place indeed. Its so easy to forget that. But without the cultural diversity of America - there is no classical melting pot of New York. There is no heady, complicated tale of New Orleans. There is no San Francisco, no Miami....no Chicago, no San Antonio. There would be no Tejano, no salsa, jazz, no blues, no rock, - for rock took its soul from the music played on the "other" radio stations, the ones my mother listened to when nobody was around, the music that artists like Elvis took and drove into the heart of a new demographic. There would be no Chinatown, no Thai temples, no Vietnamese restaurants serving up warming bowls of Pho on chilly Austin mornings to hungry students.

There would be no America, as we know it.

When a significant portion of the USA can see a person, and not their skintone, and elect them, it is - despite how some may feel - a victory for all of the USA, and an opportunity to move on and heal our racial wounds (at least, in part) and embrace the country as it really is..

..and has been, all along.

Whomever wins, I hope people will see this campaign as extraordinary, for Obama's - and truthfully - Clinton's and Palin's journey to this point will resonate with millions of Americans as validation of their own unique lifestory - be that due to race, religion, sexual orientation or gender, when political doors open wider, and embrace a more diverse demographic - it holds an innate benefit far deeper than political affiliation.

I for one, see cause to celebrate regardless of the outcome.