I went from 0 to 100mph in the last month. What started out as volunteering, due to a large amount of “spare time” on my part, has evolved into a full time job (or three). I’m working on the president’s re-election campaign and we have, oh, 17 days to go!

I’ve spent a lot of time canvassing this week, which involves going door-to-door in the community and handing out information on all the different ways you can vote (absentee, in-person absentee, early voting, and election day). By and large, I’ve met friendly and gracious folks, from both sides of the isle. However, there’s always gotta be one rotten banana in the bunch. This one just happened to be the type that spreads Panama disease and kills the rest of the bananas.

My co-worker and I knocked on the door and a man appeared; the caretaker of the owner. We immediately breathed in a HORRENDOUS stench, which we quickly determined to be a fatal mixture of kitty urine + kitty poo + kitty litter. It was unbearable. We then asked for the owner and were pointed to another man in the room, confined to an electric wheelchair. We explained who we were and why we were there, and were met by the following rant:

Angry Old White Man: You’re wasting your time! I don’t want anything to do with that CLOWN! He needs to go back to KENYA where he belongs! (some angry mumbling I don’t understand) He needs to get out of MY COUNTRY!

Sensing he wasn’t a “fan” of the President, we thanked him for his time and went on our merry way. Now, you’re going to meet negative people on the road, that’s the nature of the work, and you just have to chalk up their behavior to ignorance and get on with your day. Which is what I did initially. We had a laugh about it and finished our route.

But it kept bugging me. What he said, I couldn’t get it out of my mind.

It wasn’t until later that night, when I was at my brother’s new place trying out paint samples on the wall at 11pm, that I was able to take a moment to understand why I was irritated.

I was offended. Personally. (is that redundant?)

And I know it’s stupid to let people upset you, especially the ignorant ones who are probably suffering from kitty urine poisoning. But I can’t help it. What he said to the President, it could have been said to me.

When he said that the President should return to Kenya, where he WASN’T born and has spent very little time visiting, I thought of myself. Like Obama, I am biracial and have a parent who was not born in the USA. I wasn’t born in Thailand and he wasn’t born in Kenya. Obama has barely visited the place; I’ve never set foot on Thai soil. He doesn’t belong in Kenya and I don’t belong in Thailand.

We belong in America because we are Americans. This is our home.

When your dominant genes are from your minority parent it is often assumed that you’re only that minority; Caucasian genes just don’t stand a chance, most times. It is at this point that people assume you weren’t born here, that you aren’t an American, and that you might not be a citizen. Yes, a stretch for some, but it’s definitely a stereotype felt by many. Even when evidence is brought to light – born and raised by a White family (at least I had my mom, Barack was raised purely White) – a portion of society still doesn’t accept you as being whole. As being a whole American.

Which comes back full-circle to the Angry Old White Man’s last statement –

He needs to get out of MY COUNTRY!

I mean, it really is laughable. A White man claiming America as his. Do we really not teach History in the schools these days? This is only OUR COUNTRY because we forced the Native Americans off the land; it was not OUR COUNTRY to begin with. It’s a ridiculous notion that is held by many. Go back far enough and stake your claim and you can deem future generations of immigrants as being “less than.” Less than those who massacred a group of people so they could take over their land? I’ll take it!

So I felt a strong reaction because, again, it could have been me he was talking about; I identified with his ignorant words. And on some level, I felt very protective of our President; as though I needed to defend him as I would myself. But I didn’t say a word. Mostly because I was working, and I’m not just representing myself I’m the face of an organization. Also because I felt he was legitimately crazy in a way, and it’s stupid to try and reason with the insane. And a tiny bit because I was a coward and didn’t want to start anything.

Because I’m about a thousand times wiser and kinder than that jag-hole.

And now that I’ve gone through the gambit of emotions – anger, sadness, depression and rage – I’m glad I wrote about it. Helps me to cope with this nagging disapointment I feel in humanity. And I will continue to stand by our President, and other white biracial Americans, whose American-ness is often questioned and whose White-ness is often ignored.