My two cents regarding November 4th
November 7, 2008I don’t talk about politics for a reason. Although I’ve only been in the “news” business for seven months — I’ve been privy to the ugly side of politics ever since I started my job. I’ve seen families divided. Parents disowning children because of their political views. Friends torn apart because of differing opinions. I’ve heard the arguments, the complaints, the resentment and revenge; I’ve seen the violence, the extremists, the animosity and apathy. I’ve witnessed people left with nothing lose the only thing they’ve hung on to: hope.
No matter how you voted on Tuesday, I don’t think you can deny the fact that you are living through history. A country struggling with race and identity over the past four hundred years has elected an African-American to lead it. I won’t be so naive as to think that because of his election to the presidency, whites and blacks (and sure, let’s include yellows, browns, reds, blues, and purples) will frolic through the streets of opportunity picking up little gold nuggets hidden in cobble-stoned corners while candy grows from trees. If anything, President-elect Barack Obama is going to have one of the most difficult administrations this country has ever seen while under intense scrutiny from all sides of the spectrum.
“Obama’s dramatic election does not wipe away the complicated economic mess our country faces. In many ways, voters expect too much of him and he has perhaps promised too much.
His election does not end the tortuous war in Iraq. But it does make us feel better knowing he plans to bring massive improvements at home and abroad. He leads by narrative, showing the American promise for what it is.”
- The Seattle Times
We are in the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression. In my opinion, it’s the depression amplified by millions, with the whole world now impacted by our country’s finances & debt. Our earth continues to bleed from the damage we’ve done to it. And thousands upon thousands of humans continue to die across the ocean — not only in Iraq, Iran, and Afghanistan, but in many parts of Africa and dozens of other countries suffering from the effects of war. I can only hope and pray that his knowledge, intelligence, willpower, and soul will be ready to work with those on the opposing aisle to turn our country around.
“…for there isn’t an American president since Eisenhower who hasn’t ended up, at some point or other, being depicted by the world’s cartoonists as a cowboy astride a phallic missile. It happened to Bill Clinton when he bombed Iraq; it will happen to Mr Obama when his reinforced forces in Afghanistan or Pakistan mistake a meeting of tribal elders for an unwise gathering of Taleban and al-Qaeda.”
- An interesting article titled, Eventually, We Will All Hate Obama Too
I know that the failure of Senator John McCain (and others running for the presidency) is a big disappointment for those on his side. While many saw hope in Obama’s leadership — I know there were just as many who saw the same hope in a country led by McCain. There was hope that he would turn around everything that’s pushed us backwards over the last eight years. There was hope that he would be the one to unify a falling party, that he would be the one to turn the country into a phoenix ready to extinguish the flames it burned itself with and rise from the ashes. As I listened to his concession speech, I felt his disappointment, his sadness that he won’t get the chance to prove to Americans that the Republicans CAN do more than what President Bush has done over the last several years. But we won’t find out the what-ifs of a McCain presidency. We have a different leader now — one that many Americans saw fit to make the same changes many other Americans saw McCain making.
“The race problem in the United States is a negative legacy of the country’s history of slavery. One election can’t solve it.
But the significance of the fact that the racial barrier fell in this crucial election is immeasurable. In the future, it won’t seem remarkable to see a woman or a member of an ethnic minority running for the White House.”
I won’t pretend that everyone voted for Obama because they were well aware of his policies; because they knew his administration would result in benefits for them and their families. I know many voted for Obama because of his skin color (and yes, he’s only half black, but just as many people didn’t care about what was inside when they decided to segregate because of skin color, they still don’t care now — both whites and blacks. His skin is black = he is all black). In my personal opinion: yes, you should know the issues that you are supporting. Yes, you should know the policies that each person represents. There are only but so many excuses for ignorance and apathy. But I cannot blame anyone for voting for this man because they truly saw him as hope.
“In a concession speech as mature as President-elect Obama’s was inspiring, Republican rival John McCain summed up, in his concession speech, what the world has come to admire about the United States of America over the past one year a land of equal opportunities where colour or creed or gender does not matter.
The Times joins the rest of the world to express its admiration for this system.”
Our country has used skin color as the basis for segregation, injustice, inequality, and discrimination for hundreds of years. In parts of the country — it’s probably the continuing unspoken word. And for the same reason that we shouldn’t segregate because of skin color, shouldn’t we also NOT vote for someone because of their skin color? Character, drive, intelligence on the inside — those are the things we should look for, not what melanin is present on the outside.
To many, yes, Obama had all those personal characteristics. But to many more — Obama and his skin color represents years of oppression and discrimination. And now he will be the next President of the United States. I can’t blame people for hoping that this truly means change. Because there’s hope that if the country could ever get over their fear of the differences — that we can also get over everything else that divides us; everything that continues to divide the human race, not just in America, but in countries still struggling with their identities.
“The world has been fascinated and profoundly moved by this election most of all because of what America is — a nation founded on universal aspirations, and thus a mirror to humanity. For two centuries that mirror has seemed irreparably cracked by the legacy of slavery and segregation, a pernicious and enduring racism that remains a factor in the blighted lives of so many of the poor blacks among whom Mr. Obama launched his political career. He is not the last role model they will ever need, but he is the most powerful proof his country has produced that it is ready to judge them by the content of their character, not the color of their skin.”
- The Times of London
I am an idealist. I write about hope and romanticism and possibilities and the ambition of the unknown. And that is why I wrote this. I continue to have hope for Obama and what he claims he will do. I hold hope not just for myself, but for my children and their future. To many, Barack Obama represents our country’s Declaration of Independence. He is the personification that all men ARE created equal, and that maybe one day, the world will accept that as its mantra. I’ve been reading editorials from newspapers from all over the world, and for once, we were seen as rising above everything that’s held us back. Countries applauded us for overcoming the past. This could all be fodder, of course: Obama may end up leading our country into a third world war, or to an even greater depression. Many say Obama’s words are empty and full of false claims. That he can’t undo years of harm, at least not in one, or even two, administrations. Socialist, communist, extremist — he’s been called it all. And to many, he has to earn their respect, admiration, and their hope. He’ll have to prove himself to the country and the world. But for now — I relish in the thought that America, for everything it claims to love, hate, support, deny, has just elected Barack Obama as it’s next president.
“There is no doubt many Americans – white, black and every other colour in between – are still unable to get over their racial prejudices, just as there are many such people elsewhere in the world. But on Tuesday, Nov 4, this unjustifiable intolerance was drowned out by a truth that should not only be self-evident in America, but also to the rest of us.
All men are created equal.”
- Raslan Sharif, The Star Online
