I sit here this morning blurry-eyed and sleep deprived, but with a smile that just won’t stop. I keep returning to CNN for confirmation that it really happened. Barack Obama has won the presidency and we have elected our first African-American president! It is somewhat surreal that I am part of, and have participated in, such a monumental step forward in American history and that I will be able to personally relay to my grandchildren what it felt like to be a part of this moment.
And between the hoots and hollers and the Eskimo Pie eating last night at the Election party, actually many times during this campaign, I thought about explaining to Adam the significance of this country electing a man of color to be our President. Two things have stopped me. One, Obama’s campaign has never been about race and I felt it unfair for me to make it so. But more importantly, Adam has never once mentioned a difference between Obama’s skin color and his own. Could he distinguish it if asked? Of course. Just like as a child I could have distinguished a difference between myself and a black person beside me on the bus or standing in front me at the same drinking fountain, but it would have never occurred to me that there was a time when they weren’t allowed to be there. Adam will learn about the history of this country in his own time and I will be happy to share any knowledge and perspective I can, but I believe the strides our country is making can be honored just as much by leaving intact the innocence to our differences as it can be by acknowledging and celebrating this huge step towards a more perfect union. And I hope that when my children learn about the barriers of inequality that were broken last night by the people of this country that overlooked the color of a man’s skin to choose hope and inclusion over fear and division, that their amazement won’t be in that an African-American would actually, finally, be elected as President of this nation, but amazement that there ever was a time when they wouldn’t.
But even as we celebrated this milestone, Obama was sure to remind us in his acceptance speech that this election is only the first of many battles that lie ahead. “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. . . . . So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."
I hear this call to duty and am ready, willing and able to do my part. So as my favorite fictional president, Josiah Bartlet, would say, “What’s next?”
And between the hoots and hollers and the Eskimo Pie eating last night at the Election party, actually many times during this campaign, I thought about explaining to Adam the significance of this country electing a man of color to be our President. Two things have stopped me. One, Obama’s campaign has never been about race and I felt it unfair for me to make it so. But more importantly, Adam has never once mentioned a difference between Obama’s skin color and his own. Could he distinguish it if asked? Of course. Just like as a child I could have distinguished a difference between myself and a black person beside me on the bus or standing in front me at the same drinking fountain, but it would have never occurred to me that there was a time when they weren’t allowed to be there. Adam will learn about the history of this country in his own time and I will be happy to share any knowledge and perspective I can, but I believe the strides our country is making can be honored just as much by leaving intact the innocence to our differences as it can be by acknowledging and celebrating this huge step towards a more perfect union. And I hope that when my children learn about the barriers of inequality that were broken last night by the people of this country that overlooked the color of a man’s skin to choose hope and inclusion over fear and division, that their amazement won’t be in that an African-American would actually, finally, be elected as President of this nation, but amazement that there ever was a time when they wouldn’t.
But even as we celebrated this milestone, Obama was sure to remind us in his acceptance speech that this election is only the first of many battles that lie ahead. “This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. . . . . So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other."
I hear this call to duty and am ready, willing and able to do my part. So as my favorite fictional president, Josiah Bartlet, would say, “What’s next?”
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