As my seven year old son and I watched the inauguration..
Teagan: Daddy.
Sean: Yes.
Teagan: Is Barack Obama president now?
Sean: He will be after he's sworn in.
Teagan: Daddy.
Sean: Yes.
Teagan: I like Barack Obama.
Sean: Me too.
Teagan: Daddy.
Sean: Still here.
Teagan: How come it takes so long?
Sean: What do you mean? To be sworn in, to actually get him into office..
Teagan: They keep saying he's the first black African American.
Sean: Because we have never had a black president before.
Teagan: Why'd it take so long?
Sean: Honestly, I don't know.
Teagan: Daddy.
Sean: Yes.
Teagan: Can I become president?
Sean: If that's what you want to do, sure.
Teagan: Not today.
Sean: Not today, huh?
Teagan: No, I have to go to school.
Sean: Yes you do.
Teagan: Daddy.
Sean: You know you're drivin' me crazy, here.
Teagan: Daddy.
Sean: Yes.
Teagan: I like Barack Obama
Sean: Me too.
Growing up my parents would every so often remind me that we are all given equal opportunity, not equal outcome and it did not matter to them what I did in life so long as I always did my best. I do not know what exactly my parents intentions were, nor do I recall the circumstances surrounding them telling me this, but those words stuck with me all my life. I write this because it has come to my attention that I live in a bubble. In my world there are four seasons, there is no discrimination, unless you're stupid, and as the song goes "All You Need Is Love". I say this because as I watched all the coverage this past week with interview after interview with countless black entertainers, black professional athletes, and the honorable Jesse Jackson, I began to get kind'a pissed. Now, I understand what President Obama represents to the black community, that he may embody all that is possible in black America, but he's my president too, because I wasn't thinkin' about history when I voted back in November. I was thinkin' about the man, himself. His words, his force of energy, and the inspiration he invoked. I voted for Senator Obama because I felt he was the right choice. I did not do it because I wanted to be part of history by putting a black man in office. Now I'm not stupid (for if I were I'd be discriminated against in my world) I understand what it all means. But the media seems to focus on other things as if the color of a man's skin was more important than the man himself. It appears that as we, as a nation, try to bridge the gap between races, the media seems lost in the 60's. I say this because where were the interviews with the Asian communities, the Hispanic communities, the White communities, and so on, what did it mean to them. Because President Obama embodies more than just the black communities. He embodies my world, my America. Now, I do not view him as a Messiah, I view him as a leader who inspires us to be courageous, to be more than ourselves. And at the end of the day if we find that we did not roar so boldly, but in a quiet voice say, "I will try again tomorrow", because sometimes a leader must take a back seat and allow his followers to find the answers, to reaffirm their own beliefs, and to bring new hope to those they love.
I feel the weight of prejudices against the USA are beginning to lift. I feel that the cloud of the past eight years White House administration begin to clear. I feel that people who would normally hide behind various means of technology are now reaching out, shaking hands, and looking one another in the eye to those around them. I do have new hope, I'm beginning to be reaffirmed in the faith of my fellow man, and I do feel like this is a brand new day. If you think that one president and his administration cannot possibly bring our nation out of all this chaos and turmoil...let me remind you, it took one president and his administration to put us here. So my answer to all those nay-sayers, all those Rush Limbaugh's, Bill O'Reilly's, all those Ann Coulter's of the world, I say," Yes, We Can!"
