The Frazzled Scribe

Can you guess who I voted for peeps? That's right...the man with the plan, Obama.

The thing that is frustrating me a little bit about this election process, however, is this. In the public arena it seems that nobody wants to be "un-PC" by acknowledging that this is a startling moment in the historical narrative of African-Americans.

Don't get me wrong. I didn't vote for Obama because he's black. I looked at both candidates. In fact, of all the Republican candidates, I honestly think the best one got the nomination. I can say with complete confidence that I don't think John McCain has bad intentions toward our country and, unlike Dubya, I certainly don't think he's evil. But I do think that Obama's plans (as I've read extensively on his website) make sense. I think he recognizes what many politicians don't...that the middle class is the backbone of our economy and when you screw the middle class, the economy starts to crumble. But I digress...

Obama has carefully stayed away from the race thing. I understand why. He can't be construed as "the black people's president." If elected he will be president to a nation full of people of many different ethnic origins and he must serve them all equally. I get that. But why is it when I say that I am excited that a black man might become president it becomes "oh, so you're only voting for him because he's black???" No...but to understand why this is so big for us, you probably would have to be black.

You would have to have grown up in a household where being the president wasn't an idea that you dreamed because you thought it could never happen. You would have to experience the level of fear and distrust our elders still hold toward mainstream society, as if their children might still be sold away from them for speaking out or being too cheeky. You would have to have parents who grew up with "colored only" signs hanging over doorways and water fountains and who have lived with the very real possibility that saying the wrong thing could get you killed. Growing up in that environment, with those limitations, we didn't dream of being president. My grandfather often encouraged me to get a nice government job. That was his aspiration for me: a steady income and a retirmement plan. That was about as much as he could realistically expect out a dream.

Don't get me wrong. I want Obama to win (badly) but even if he doesn't, he has done so much for African-Americans. We now know that it IS possible for a black man to seriously run for president. And if a black man can run, why not a black woman? It is in the realm of possibility because it has happened. I think his candidacy was so important to making black people understand that this government does, in fact, belong to them too. That there are ways around racism, ways to shatter the glass ceiling, ways to achieve your dreams. From this, parents will raise their children a bit differently, I think. I know I can now say to my daughters with confidence now, "yes you probably can run for president someday."

For people who have never experienced that type of mentality in their culture, you can't really understand on a gut level how big this is but rationally I think anyone can. So I want to make sure to say this very clearly and very loudly: "I voted for Barack Obama for president today, not simply because he is a black man, but because I felt that he was the best man for the job. That being the case, I am especially excited, moved that he is a black man who may very well be our president just mere hours from now."

Did you go vote yet? GO VOTE!!!!

Labels: politics