Today we are going to inaugurate our 44th US President. For the first time in history, our president is going to be of African American Descent. Now matter your political views, this is a historic day. Our European Brethren, who often times look down on America as being racist, have no room to talk. How many Black Prime Ministers has the UK had, how many Black Presidents in France, could you imagine a Black Chancellor in Germany?
I am not going to state how I voted, but I will proudly state that I voted for candidates from three different parties in my federal selections. I think too often we are programmed to vote based on the letter behind the candidates’ last name, rather than how the candidates’ views match yours and just as importantly the candidates’ character and integrity.
I was having dinner with a good friend of mine, Jason, early last fall. Jason is an African American from Kentucky and is very well educated, multilingual, and has traveled all over the world. He has experienced isolated incidents of racism in his past.
He and I disagreed on whether America would actually elect a black president. He claimed that many Americans may say that they would elect a black person when polled, but when they got into the polling booth would not cast that vote. I disagreed, and said that Barack Obama would be elected if more Americans thought he would be a better president than John McCain.
I called Jason the day after the election to say “I told you so.” Jason revealed to me that he had cried the night before. That phone call was one of my proudest moments as an American.