Thursday, November 06, 2008

Number 44

Barack Obama, a mixed race man, will be taking the oath of office in January of 2009. The year he was born, Southern blacks were still being attacked by dogs, fire-hosed off of streets, and hung from trees by men dressed up like children on Hallow's Eve, all because they had the nerve to demand equality. At the time, America's South took pride in defecating on the Constitution. The situation may have continued everlasting if not for the brave men and women who decided enough was enough and began what would become the American civil rights movement. Medgar Evers, Martin Luther King Jr., and innumerable others died so that Americans of African decent, many of them the grandchildren of former slaves, could enjoy the most basic human rights. A little over 40 years ago, these men and women stood up for human dignity, and after years of death and degradation, they won what was essentially the final major battle in a prolonged war going back to the dawn of this nation. In many ways, Barack Obama embodies the culimation of their efforts.

At the time of Obama's birth, mixed race relationships and marriages were constibutionally prohibited by some Southern states, schools were still segregated, and blacks were still very much marginalized to roles of menial labor and servitude in the deep South. Whites Only restaurants, bathrooms, and stores were common throughout the Southeastern US. Black men were routinely attacked and killed for offenses as minor as talking to a white woman in public. All of this was happening well within my parents' lifetime. It wasn't only the South which embraced such ignorance. Even in exhalted places like the Kennedy White House, a place some referred to as Camelot, blacks were handled as if they were unpredictable animals, no matter the level of their education or status. For instance, a black staffer in Jack Kennedy's White House was prohibited from being left alone in a room with white women, because white staff members were afraid he might molest or coerce their white female coworkers. That was the America Barack Obama was born into and now he has been elected to lead it. That is a massive, paradigm shifting reality, regardless of where people fall on the political spectrum.

These thoughts meander through what is left of ta 30-something office drone's mind as he browses the homepages of FOX News, CNN, USA Today, and the endless expanse of online news outlets. A sip of coffee, a few minutes to skim through a transcript of Obama's victory address, then it's on to an article about McCain's concession speech and the unraveling of his campaign. The day after America's 44th President was selected, the reaction is very mixed. Some of his friends, people he considers extended family, were posting blurbs to their Facebook and MySpace accounts proclaiming Obama a racist and a Socialist. A couple declared Obama's supporters to be idiots, asking "what is wrong with people", a rhetorical question tinged with frustration at the fools who would dare vote for someone other than John McCain.

Funny thing is, the drone doesn't feel like a fool, or an idiot, he feels like someone who voted his conscience. Obama is not a racist, so far as the drone could tell, and given Obama's mixed race heritage, it is hard to imagine a man raised by two white women known to have showered him with love and support being a hater of caucasian America. Of course, the drone and millions of other Americans could be wrong, but it is a time for new ideas and a new direction. After all, this is not the America the young drone grew up believing in. The country he sees is a place divided by ideology, governed by greed, and run into the ground by a white executive aristocracy. It is hard for the drone to accept that there is not inherent wisdom in putting a middle class, black man who knows what it feels like to be at the bottom of the economic barrel in charge of remolding the fragmented remains of a once mighty titan into something smarter, leaner, and more responsible. So much damage has been done in the pst 8 years, drastic change is necessary, and there is nothing more different than a mixed race, mixed faith man who once saw his food being bought with food stamps. A man intelligent enough to make millions of dollars practicing law, or authoring books, who chose public service as his calling. There is much to respect in this man.

Certainly there are questions. The drone sees every human being that walks as questionable, but with those questions comes a real sense of hope. At a time when the once mighty giant finds itself bloodied on its knees, Number 44 will be charged with coaxing the titan back to its feet. The task is a daunting one, given the damage done by the outgoing junta, but the country is out of choices and there is no time for slinking away from challenges. Meanwhile, the drone finishes his coffee and moves on to the sad and almost desperate task of keeping himself employed in a country balanced on the brink of Depression.

Posted by Erik @ 11/06/2008 04:22:00 PM