Change We Can…In America
Last night, I was sitting on the edge of the couch with my parents watching CNN=Politics as the polls closed for the last two primary states. Despite the primary results, I knew what was coming, that a history making moment was minutes away. I watched as the numbers gradually decreased for the delegate count Barack Obama needed to clinch the democratic nomination. Even though I knew what was coming, I had to watch until he actually had the numbers on his side. So when the newscasters finally proclaimed Obama as the democratic nominee, I felt an emotional response unlike never before. I was happy, sad, exhilarated, amazed, motivated, and a whole host of emotions. An historic day that I wasn’t sure would ever come did. Americans decided that skin color was not a factor when it came to their democratic nominee. They wanted change. They wanted enthusiasm and hope. They wanted new blood. They wanted Barack Obama, and it didn’t matter that his father was a black man and his mother was a white woman. Considering what I know about American and African American history, I watched a miracle occur on June 3, 2008.
This country was largely built on the backs of slaves from Africa and their decedents. In fact, African Americans invented many amenities that we enjoy in our every day life – the traffic light, the filament in the light bulb (the filament actually makes the light in the bulb), elevators, and even the ironing board. Still, despite African American’s contribution to the country, they were treated less than human by many, before slavery and after slavery ended with Lincoln’s signing of the Emancipation Proclamation.
I wasn’t born during the civil rights movement of the 1950s and 1960s, but I know about the movement and the people behind it far more than most. I studied the American civil rights movement for two years. I watched hours and hours of video footage of African Americans getting beat, spat on, yelled out, hosed, and attacked by dogs…simply because they wanted to drink out of the same water fountain, use the same restroom, sit at the front of the bus, and vote like any other American. I read books about the civil right movement – Eyes on the Prize and Why We Can’t Wait to name a couple – so I could understand the impact of how black and white Americans fought to make us equal among each other. To make a future, you have to understand the past, and through my studies, I’m amazed at the progress we made considering the civil rights movement occurred just 60 years ago. I know that things are not perfect, that racism is still prevalent, but Obama’s clinching of the democratic nomination marks a huge milestone in America, a milestone that came a lot sooner than I expected.
No matter what happens next, Obama has made me see that all things truly are possible. His milestone is inspiring to me as an individual and should be inspiring to all. Just look at how far we have come as a nation. It shows that we can move beyond our painful past of social and racial injustice. It shows that the word “American” is more key than the sub genres we like to label each other with. It shows that we, as Americans, can change. Change on June 3, 2008 equals a new kind of progress that can truly define our future if we continue to look past color and see each other simply as human beings.
I simply want to say thank you, America. Change, we can! Progress, we can!