Separating race from hope
As America and the world celebrate the historic election of an African-American as president of the United States, a host of emotions are swirling through our collective minds.
We’re proud of America, for dealng another blow to racism and bigotry.
We’re amazed at how far we’ve come - just a generation ago blacks were fighting to attend the college of their choice or sit in the front of the bus.
We’re optimistic that Barack Obama’s election really does mean something special - a sign of a cultural shift toward a future closer to Martin Luther King’s dream.
But is it all about race?
Isn’t there more to Obama’s election than an historic milestone for African-Americans.
We should be proud, amazed and optimistic about what his election means for race relations. But most Americans didn’t vote for Obama because of his race.
They voted for his message of change. They voted for his plans for getting out of unpopular foreign wars and switching our economic focus from the rich to the middle class.
And most of all, they voted for hope.
Hope that America can be a leader in the world without being a bully.
Hope that we can put American ingenuity back to work creating jobs on our shores, not overseas.
Hope that we can provide basic services like health care for all of our citizens.
Hope that we can balance the federal budget, not by cutting services for people in need but by ending policies that don’t make sense - like fighting expensive wars while cutting taxes on oil companies making billion-dollar profits.
Yes, let’s celebrate for a few days the amazing milestone that Barack Obama’s election represents.
But then I hope we - the entire country - can get to work tackling the tough issues and moving toward that vision of the future that was behind so many of those votes on Tuesday.