Barack Obama, President of the United States of America.

18 January, 2009

Still sounds weird to me. And in less than 2 days it will have been made official.

Even though I voted, even though I donated, even though I argued, fought and read. And even though I celebrated, it still seems like something out of a movie (though it's only a matter of time until it is).

In a county where unabashed racists are given time to air their views on national radio, television, and newspaper outlets there will be an African American President. In a country where a souther Senator refers to the Obamas as 'uppity' and doesn't apologize there will be an African American President. This cannot be stressed enough. In a country as diverse, yet closed, as America is; a door has been opened. Hopefully one of many more to be opened in the coming years.

This means so much - and as much as it means, consider again the sacrifices of those that preceded Obama. Think about Jackie Robinson, who still stands as a milestone of racial equality. His achievement was in 1947 (of course baseball had only been played since the mid 1800s - so baseball isn't really any more progressive than the nation as a whole when it's looked at proportionally!) It took another 17 years before the civil rights act was passed. Even without leaving the world of baseball it was almost 30 more years until Frank Robinson became the first black manager in the Major Leagues. Change isn't always easy in America. Just because opportunity is the American dream doesn't mean that anything can happen overnight.

Think about Rosa Parks making her stand - could she have ever envisioned that there would be a black president even in her children's lifetimes? Did those children in Arkansas think they were paving the way towards this?

What's more is that for Jackie Robinson, the Little Rock nine and others a great deal of their legacy was that they simply persevered, ignored the racist criticisms and went on to be successful. For Obama that won't be an option. The president of the United States doesn't take racial insults.

What's more is I expect everyone who defended Bush by saying "but he's the president, we need to stand behind him not matter what" to do the same for the new commander in chief. Of course they won't, because their defense was nothing more than partisanship camouflaged in patriotism. But will they be called out for their hypocrisy?

It's all a lot to consider. But all of these reasons, as well as others - that no one could ever imagine - are why Obama is important to this county.

Of course some people don't see the history. They see skin, they see what they have and what others don't and can only see change as a potential negative. Change does not create a rabbit hole, where up is down, where black is white, where the inner-city is instantly an affluent suburb. But some people cannot see that. These people say "but he doesn't have a platform other than saying 'change'."

But with everything people in this country have gone through, black or white, isn't 'change' more than enough?