I was born while segregation still existed. I was six years old when Martin Luther King was killed. It is an unpleasant part of our history and not so long ago in our past. I certainly didn't experience this aspect of our history as intensely as those directly affected by it.
I believe this election represents a proud moment where a once very racially divided country has turned another corner and found a way to look forward to something different, something new.
Regardless of who you voted for as a citizen of the USA, or rooted for from another country, I invite you to offer congratulations to President Elect Barack Obama and the Americans that chose to vote for him. I wish him and us the best possible outcome during his term in office.
6 comments:
I've been following this amazing race to the White House since the primaries. I missed the first few significant events but once I heard him speak, I was hooked...I'm sure plenty know the feeling! It was amazing to see him beat Hillary. It was no easy feat for a "rookie". He has run a historic campaign, capitalizing on the "tribe" he and his team have managed to nurture.
I'm not a US citizen yet so I couldn't vote (too darn bad) but am looking forward to become one and vote in the next round. The journey will not be easy and we're in for some tough years ahead. I'm positive however that the perception of this great country in the eyes of the world has nowhere to go but up. The US is highly polarized just like my country of citizenship (Malta). I hope that the politics-as-usual establishment will be abolished. We shall see, but there's hope.
Thanks for the upbeat posting. Though, if race shouldn't be an issue in deciding who's president, why are we still talking about how great it is to have a African American president? I thought race didn't matter?! Fact of the matter is.. Race meant everything in this election!
I found his speech last night very moving and I'm a skeptic/cynic when it comes to politics.
It wasn't about race for me but I'm sure it was a factor for many voters.
I remember reading something that went something like this: "There is never a day when I'm not, in some way, reminded that I'm black. I can't help but wonder what it would be like to go through life never thinking about the color of my skin."
I have this vague recollection that it was said by past Supreme Court Judge Thurgood Marshall, but it might just have been a line in a movie.
Regardless, I think it speaks to the what a person of color may endure in a "white" society. I say this as a US born "white" guy of English descent, I can't get more anglo-saxon-caucasian 8-)
I also just happen to have a sister "of color". My parents adopted her, a six month old baby, in the late sixties. Her natural parents were black and white.
Today she dedicates herself to the enrichment of kids as a teacher and as a foster parent. I never think of her in the context of skin color, she's just my sister. Except in the telling of this...
This is the corner stone for the US. As an on looker from another part of the planet I found the whole election compelling and for me, the best man one. The US has come a long way in 40 years and I watched news items over the last few days which highlighted the struggles of many African Americans during the time of Martin Luther King and it made me fell sick! I don't see colour, I see a man who will change America.
Tough times are ahead and it will not be an easy ride, but some of your foreign policy over the last few years has certainly damaged the image of what I think is a great nation. Saying that, the UK has a lot to answer for as well! I am convinced Barack will change this for sure. Let’s just hope for the countries and the world’s sake, he’s allowed to do his job.
If we are using building analogies, I would say this is trim over the door and not foundation. Foundation comes first. The racist legacy of slavery was replaced a long time ago, but some people have been looking only at the trash heap behind the house to find the discarded foundation that was replaced decades ago. The Civil War replaced the foundation, and the Civil Rights Act replaced the foundation again. Now with some new trim around the entry and a new paint job, people will stop digging around in the past and crying racism where there is none.
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