Thoughts on a truly super Tuesday
America made the right choice tonight. Age old bigotry and tradition was overcome to decisively elect Barack Obama the next president of the United States. As proud as I am of this historic moment, it is not simply because we have elected a black man president. It is not even that we have elected a strong, intelligent and promising democratic leader to be our next president. It is what we've overcome to do this.
While I personally did not live through the tremulous times of segregation and the struggle to overcome it, I had always assumed that a segment of the population would not vote Obama due to racism. What I never expected to come from this election were stories of racist and ultra-right voters putting aside racial prejudice to vote for a human of undeniable quality.
"We're voting for the nigger" - words I never thought I'd hear, but am none-the-less thankful for. To me, this indicates that America is still a place where merit, ability, and dreams can change the social landscape of the land. If someone who looks down on 'those people' can vote for one of them to be president based on who they are, and not what they are, then I have hope that the walls of racism and bigotry will crumble fully in my lifetime.
As is traditional for every president to say - God bless America - for who we are, and what we are capable of.
While I personally did not live through the tremulous times of segregation and the struggle to overcome it, I had always assumed that a segment of the population would not vote Obama due to racism. What I never expected to come from this election were stories of racist and ultra-right voters putting aside racial prejudice to vote for a human of undeniable quality.
"We're voting for the nigger" - words I never thought I'd hear, but am none-the-less thankful for. To me, this indicates that America is still a place where merit, ability, and dreams can change the social landscape of the land. If someone who looks down on 'those people' can vote for one of them to be president based on who they are, and not what they are, then I have hope that the walls of racism and bigotry will crumble fully in my lifetime.
As is traditional for every president to say - God bless America - for who we are, and what we are capable of.