Racism in this Election--Brienne

I have been shocked and appalled these last few weeks to discover how racist many of the people around me are. In my world, skin color doesn't matter. In my world, religion doesn't matter. In my world, gender doesn't matter. Apparently I am alone in my world. I have been talking to many people about the election, who people want to vote for, and who I want to vote for. When I tell some people that I plan on voting for Obama, they gasp and ask me how on earth I could vote for him. When I ask why I shouldn't, they tell me straight up because he is black. I had no idea people still felt this way and believed these things. It is pure nonsense that someone who is of a different race is incapable of leading a country purely based on the fact that he is of a different race. In fact, one of my friends asked me why I wouldn't want a true American to serve in office. He said he was voting for the "normal" candidate, meaning McCain. We are no longer friends. I just couldn't believe that someone would actually say those words. It seems impossible to me to have so much hatred toward someone just because of their race. It is ludicrous and I thought by now we, as a country, would have gotten past that. I thought that we, as a country, would be able to vote for the person best suited to run our country. I thought that by now we, as a country, would be able to see that a person’s race does not affect his or her ability to act. I thought wrong.