January 21, 2013
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To The Top
Today of course is Martin Luther King Day and also happens to be the second inauguration of President Barack Obama. Regardless of what you think of him, this was a very significant day in the history of these Divided States of America. A century and a half ago, blacks were slaves and now we have a two term half black man as president. 50 years ago, whites had the right to not serve blacks in hotels and restaurants, but look at us today. Oh sure, Obama’s first election was a huge deal and probably more significant than his second, but let’s not underestimate the importance of this moment. A lot of people including myself believed that he had more pressure on him in his first term than any other president because he had the added attention of being the first non fully white person in office and he had to prove to certain people that he would not be any lesser of a president because he is black. After all, black presidents CAN disappoint their supporters just as much as white presidents!
Obama became the first president since Reagan to win twice with more than 50% of the popular vote. To quote Vice President Joe Biden, “that’s a pretty big fucking deal”. While I’m quite certain there were people who did not vote for him or did vote for him because of the color of his skin, more people made the decision in without thinking of the color of his skin. I know you will here a lot of people talk about how divided the country is racially or about how far we still have to go when it comes to race relations, this post is about how far we have come. Martin Luther King would be shocked and proud.
I’ve long been a strong opponent of racism and bigotry in every way, shape, and form. To see how far we have come in such a short period of time though makes me proud. As Obama stood there rambling on about blah blah blah politics, I sat there just amazed at where we are here in history. Just think about this and let this sink in for a few. When Obama was born in 1961, there were still many states where his parents (a white mom and a black father) could not legally get married. There were still signs in the south that read “white only” or “colored only”. There was still a pretty big divide between the blacks and whites. Hell, more recently blacks were not allowed at Augusta National golf course in Georgia until 1990, only three presidents ago.
Love him or hate him for his politics; hell we have always done that in this country with our presidents going back to the beginning. But, appreciate what we have done and how far we have come in such a short amount of time. And appreciate the time in which we live. 100 years from now people are going to look back at this time and wonder with jealousy what it was like to live in our time much like we look back and wonder what it was like to live in America at the dawn of our inception. We should feel privileged to live in such a time and feel a sense of pride and optimism about what the future holds.
Comments (4)
I agree. I gew up in the sixties and seventies, but I lived in a place where there were no black people (or any other minority), so I did’t see the worst of what was going on. I watched some of it unfold on the TV in the comfort of my living room. It was only later that I understood what I had seen.
I agree that his re-election was a big deal and I hope he can push for the changes he spoke about. It was awesome to hear him talk about gay rights and I’m excited I get to see the changes happen in my life. Progress seems to have been made pretty significantly in the past 5 years. As more and more people feel comfortable enough to live and love openly, it takes away the stigma because everyone ends up knowing a gay person and realizing they aren’t any different than themselves. I wish I lived in a more progressive state but I think things will continue to improve.
@whyzat - yeah history is weird like that…………we don’t always fully understand the meaning until years later.
@PennyLumpkins - I was kind of stunned when I heard him mention Stonewall. I had to stop and ask myself “did he really just mention that?” as I think it was the first time I ever heard a straight person talk about it. I too am excited about the changes and honestly, call me nuts, but I think it is only a matter of time before more and more Republicans are going to start embracing gay marriage. Shit, they almost have no choice. But then again, a lot of it hinges on the Supreme Court ruling on gay marriage later this year. The other issue I was excited to hear him mention was something that I think is probably as important as any issue: climate change.