I have been today, like much of last night, crying and feeling amazed.
Whoever you were rooting for in this election, one has to feel pride that America has done something momentous, something that re-establishes and re-asserts the truth of what seemed to be the mythology of our society; namely, that we are a meritocracy, and do not winnow those who seek to excel by their sex, background, or race.
I become truly amazed when I see this election through the eyes of my son. He's 1.5 now; by the end of Obama's first term, he will be in Kindergarten, and understand who the President of the United States is. That it will never occur to him that a black man with a "funny sounding name" could NOT be President, that he will be incredulous that we've only had ONE black president, will make my heart warm all over again.
There is a whole generation of children in this country who are living in a better world not because of Barack Obama and his politics, but because of the voters of the United States, who reaffirmed once again that barriers stand no chance against the progress of this amazing country.
3 comments:
I completely agree with everything you said, especially since I too have a young child (2.5 yrs). However, I do think that the country (in certain states) took huge steps backward concerning human rights (e.g. passing Prop 8 in CA).
It's sort of bittersweet.
Thanks Amanda. I have been thinking about Prop 8 a lot (I live in CA) and I honestly think that the proposition passed less as a referendum on gay marriage, and more as a response to YES on 8's twisted (but effective) insinuations about how the proposition related to education and schools. If the campaign fight had been about rights, it would have failed. But Yes on 8 perverted it into an argument about government intervention, sex education, and parental rights. The NO on 8 campaign had a very weak response to that argument, and I think that's why it lost. I'm sure it will come up for a vote again, and I think gay marriage will be approved in the near future. The margins were much more tight this time over last time we had this vote, so things are improving. Like many things, this issue is extremely generational.
I agree with all you said too. I am just thrilled with Obama!! My kids are grown but they consider this a given, they have no qualms over black and white. I am so proud of them for being accepting, it gets better each generation.
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