Red, White and Blue.....and Black.
Time to stand behind president-elect
Of course that wasn't true for blacks at the time and even the Great Emancipator would've never envisioned a black man as president.
When Barack Obama was announced as the next president of the United States, the television screens were filled with people celebrating and many people, especially blacks, weeping. At that moment, I was supposed to call my brother Tony who was working at a polling station to tell him the news but could only manage to text 'Barack is president' before dropping the phone and sobbing.
The improbable victory caps an amazing American journey. I, and many others I'm sure, couldn't help but think of the arc of American history that included the slave trade, the Civil War, the courage of Harriet Tubman, Frederick Douglass and other abolitionists, the resolve of a young Illinois state senator turned president, Reconstruction, Jim Crow, lynchings, Dr. King and the civil rights movement, Jesse Jackson's presidential runs, and Colin Powell's ascension, all leading to this historic moment.
In an instant, the discordant, jangle of American racial history came together in a mighty harmonious song of redemption. Before our very eyes we saw, on the grandest stage of our nation, a black man judged by the content of his character.
The incredible candidacies of Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton have made real the old American bromide that anyone can grow up with the opportunity to be president of the United States.
The symbol of a black man as president will go an incredibly long way to encourage young blacks to reach for their potential. It alone will have a more far reaching impact than any government program.
The times were too dire, the task too great, the candidate too compelling, to allow old prejudices to sway our fate. Americans of all backgrounds came together to set our country on the right path.
The American people saw through the Republican smokescreen of division. This was the final judgment on eight hard years of Republican rule that has often insulted the Constitution, bruised the rule of law, bankrupted our grandchildren and pulverized our national esteem.
I've likened winning the presidency after the George W. Bush regime to the man who pushes the broom behind the elephants in a circus. From the debt and deficits, wars, the economy, energy, health care, the environment and our international prestige, there's a tremendously daunting amount of work to be done.
The problems are too big to be faced by one man no matter how gifted, visionary or skilled he may be. As Lincoln famously said in his first inaugural address, '. . . We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory, stretching from every battlefield and patriot grave to every living heart and hearthstone all over this broad land, will yet swell the chorus of the Union, when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.'
What I'm saying is: let's all grab a broom and stand with our new president. Peace.
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This is a historic election. It's not special just for blacks. It's special for all Americans because of what it says about America and the progress we've made. That's not to say those who voted against Obama are bigots or want to halt progress. As I've said, opposing Barack Obama on policy is an affirmation of equality. He should get no special treatment. Opposing him on racial grounds...well...screw you. It's a new day. It's a new country.
I wanted to share the black perspective...or a black perspective on this election in my column. It's a highly emotional thing. It's something that many of us thought we'd never see in our lifetime and its real. It's a powerful symbol.
Many conservatives pounced on Michelle Obama for saying that for the first time in her life she was really proud of her country. Blacks understood her statement easily. Most whites wouldn't know what it feels like to feel like you're a provisional citizen, that the rules are different for you. When 9/11 occurred, I really felt like an American. Now, my family was a military family. My father swore an oath to defend a country that denied him basic rights at the time he joined the Navy. We had a flagpole in our front yard growing up and we proudly flew that flag. We participated in our country. But at the same time, there was no denying that black Americans were viewed with suspicion. 9/11 made me feel enfranchised. Included. It sometimes takes a common enemy to bring two people together. So I felt like an American before 9/11 but it solidified that feeling. Just like the election of Barack Obama sends a powerful signal that the dominant culture can accept that we're all Americans. So I feel even prouder to be an American.
You know,...there's a tough job facing our new President. On another level...things haven't changed that much. A hundred years ago, about the only job a black man could get was cleaning up after a white man. Now, a black man has been elected President and his task? Cleaning up after a white man. LOL
God bless America. Of course, had Obama lost, I'd be saying, "No, no, no. Not God bless America... God damn America!!!!!!!!!!!!!!"
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Did Gavin Newsom cost gays gay marriage in California? Click HERE.
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The Campaign: In It's Own Words
My fellow prisoners, it is a humbling experience that America has elected a black skinny kid with a funny name, including a middle name given to him by someone who obviously thought he’d never run for president.
It’s been a long campaign in which Barack Obama visited something like fifty-seven states. The guy took his message of hope and change from coast to coast. And that one never suspended his campaign, used air quotes or made funny faces. He ticked off Hillary in the primary. His friends didn't always help him. He did disappoint supporters with some shifting of his positions but the idea of change held firm.
Meanwhile, as the great John Cleese said, John McCain once spent over five years with Communists, using their accommodations and eating their food without paying a dime. People have questions about those who pal around with terrorists and Communists.
Also, a
People who are bitter and who cling to guns and religion still turned out to vote for Obama. That includes a lot of hardworking white Americans.
My friends, we’ve seen Republicans and conservatives refer to Obama as a ‘terrorist’, an ‘Arab’, and a ‘socialist.’ And I couldn’t agree with them more. I couldn’t disagree with you…..I couldn’t agree more that you’re one of the finest readers of columns anywhere!
In foreign policy, we can expect our new President to have a crisis in the first six months of his administration. He can be expected to talk to our enemies without preconditions instead of just deciding to bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb, bomb
The fundamentals of our economy are strong. As our new government spreads the wealth around, the recently passed bailout should help with healthcare reform that is needed to help shore up our economy. It's got to be all about job creation too. Shoring up our economy, and putting it back on the right track. So healthcare reform and reducing taxes and reining in spending has got to accompany tax reductions, and tax relief for Americans, and trade, we've got to see trade as opportunity, not as a competitive, um, scary thing, but 1 in 5 jobs being created in the trade sector today. We've got to look at that as more opportunity. All of those things under the umbrella of job creation.
Vice-President Joe Biden, who will be in charge of the Senate, will also be in charge of the Department of Anachronisms and Historic Revisions.
Yes, change has come to
Finally, Joe the Plumber, meet Barack the President.
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