NEW YEAR'S FORUM: Racialicious’ Latoya Peterson Calls for Honesty in the New Year

January 6, 2009 posted by admin Our New Year's Resolution as a nation is a simple one.  We should resolve to be honest with ourselves. We need to be honest about the role race played in the election, honest about why Obama's victory does not prove that America is suddenly post-racial, and start thinking about how to deal with issues of racial inequality and racism.  The Republican Party, in particular, needs to do a lot of soul searching as it appears that they have misjudged who represents the "real America." We need to be truthful about what is currently happening with the economy.  We need to understand that we are in for a tough time and while we as Americans tend to always make it work, there are going to be some tough decisions that will cause a lot of pain.  However, that said, if we are going to go into debt we need to shift our focus.  Instead of sinking money into two wars that have caused nothing but death and destruction, we need to make comprehensive investments in the American people.  We need to invest in social programs that encourage a more mobile and educated populace, one that isn't sinking under the crushing weight of student loan debt, one where libraries are a vital part of our communities, and one where citizens do not have to choose between paying their heath insurance premiums and shopping for food for their families.  Finally, we need to be honest about what "think globally, live locally" actually means.  We need to invest in our own neighborhoods and understand how they work. We need to understand that our consumption here leads to dire situations abroad. We need to understand when we take more than our due, someone else has to pay the price. 2009 is finally here, and there is no time like the present for our nation to take a good long look in the mirror.  --Latoya Peterson is the editrix of Racialicious.com, a blog dedicated to exploring the intersection between race and pop culture. This post is part of a forum