Yes We Did
When the networks called it at about one second past 11 pm I started shrieking and crying so loud it freaked out the cats.
President-Elect Obama and I are almost exactly the same age. When I was in the first grade, I started hanging out with an African-American (at the time the term we used was "Negro"... yes, I'm old) kid named Mayo Mitchell. He came home with me a couple of times. I didn't find out until years later that apparently There Was Talk about this being somehow inappropriate. (This was about a year after MLK's assassination.) I am grateful to my parents for making sure I never heard that at the time. Anyway, my point is this: when I was a kid, for a white kid just to be friends with a black kid was a Big Deal. And to think that now, one of those little black kids has grown up to be the President, and people of all colors and races and ethnicities are celebrating wildly.
This sure doesn't mean there is no more racism in the USA. There's a shitload of it still. But to have reached this point in my lifetime... I'm so grateful to be here to see this. I'm so proud of everyone who has worked hard to make this happen... and make no mistake, this work didn't just start a couple of years ago with Barack Obama... this is work that's been going on for decades, and a lot of people died for this to happen.
This night is nothing short of amazing. I don't have words.
I know we're putting a hell of a lot of weighty expectations on someone who's just a guy my age. He's bound to fail us now and then. I hope we forgive him when he does, because I think he has the potential to do great things. I think that with his leadership, WE have the potential to do great things.
Wow. Just ... wow.
President-Elect Obama and I are almost exactly the same age. When I was in the first grade, I started hanging out with an African-American (at the time the term we used was "Negro"... yes, I'm old) kid named Mayo Mitchell. He came home with me a couple of times. I didn't find out until years later that apparently There Was Talk about this being somehow inappropriate. (This was about a year after MLK's assassination.) I am grateful to my parents for making sure I never heard that at the time. Anyway, my point is this: when I was a kid, for a white kid just to be friends with a black kid was a Big Deal. And to think that now, one of those little black kids has grown up to be the President, and people of all colors and races and ethnicities are celebrating wildly.
This sure doesn't mean there is no more racism in the USA. There's a shitload of it still. But to have reached this point in my lifetime... I'm so grateful to be here to see this. I'm so proud of everyone who has worked hard to make this happen... and make no mistake, this work didn't just start a couple of years ago with Barack Obama... this is work that's been going on for decades, and a lot of people died for this to happen.
This night is nothing short of amazing. I don't have words.
I know we're putting a hell of a lot of weighty expectations on someone who's just a guy my age. He's bound to fail us now and then. I hope we forgive him when he does, because I think he has the potential to do great things. I think that with his leadership, WE have the potential to do great things.
Wow. Just ... wow.