Tonight was historic. Senator Barack Hussein Obama of Illinois won the Iowa primary—beating out Senator Hillary Clinton of New York 38% to 29%.
Obama, his organization, and Iowa voters, proved that change can happen—and Obama's primary campaign theme has been "change." Tonight, the Democratic Caucus, in a state with a 95% White population, caucused for Barack Obama (who just so happens to be a Black man) over the “favored,” experienced and established, Hillary Clinton--as well as candidate John Edwards.
Obama said he believes in hope and that he’s the product of hope. He then mentioned our forefathers of this nation who believed in hope. It’s now apparent that many people have hope in Obama.
I’ll admit, I was hopeful to. I watched the results unfold. I then watched Obama’s speech. The combination of seeing the final results, and him on stage in such presidential form— was emotionally overwhelming. Yet I quickly realized that my elation and even my tears weren't targeted at Barack Obama, as much as they were targeted at those who aren’t even alive today.
I suddenly found myself feeling an intense sense of gratitude and indebtedness to each individual who was hanged from a tree seeking freedom from slavery, who bled and died for the right to vote, who was dragged out of a restaurant for requesting the right to be served, each individual who wore out shoes during a 381-day bus boycott, who was beaten with a club for attempting to integrate public schools, who was jailed for not sitting in the back of a bus, and to each individual who was attacked by dogs for marching peacefully for what they believed in.
I found myself wishing Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. could see this moment. That Coretta Scott King—who died only a year ago this month—could see this moment; that my grandmother, who endured so much hardship as a Black woman in the segregated South—could see this moment.
We may not all agree with Obama’s politics, but we must agree that America is not the same America it was forty years ago and beyond. But had it not been for every African American--and every individual of any other race--who believed in equality and aided African Americans in the fight for equality and justice, there would be no Barack Obama as Iowa's chosen front runner for the Democratic party.
In a campaign stop recently—when asked about his use of “hope” in his campaign—Barack said the following: “I’m a Black Man with the name Barack Hussein Obama running for President. I’ve got to have hope!” Hope is indeed what he has. And it’s that same type of infectious hope that desegregated bussess, integrated lunch counters and schools, and that gave African Americans the right to vote—and the hope that maybe, just maybe, America is a land we too one day can truly call home.
Tonight, Black America, America felt like home. There on stage was a Black man and his family—a brown man with a brown wife and two brown daughters—people who looked like us. People with experiences like ours. People who are hard-working, first generation success stories—and not the children of wealthy elites.
Tonight was both historic and hopeful. Tonight, Martin Luther King, Jr.’s dream came true. One man, who happened to be a Black man, was judged not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. And with only 4% Black participation in the caucus, this event showed us that many White Americans are just as happy as Blacks that today, Democratic Iowans “chose a Black man to lead our country.”
Obama won big among the younger voters—and in fact—the older the voter, the fewer votes he got. So it’s apparent that the tide is changing and that there is a new generation of voters— a generation who's grown up seeing African Americans in positions of leadership and power...A generation who knows that there are intelligent, competent individuals within every race, and that race has no bearing on one's capabilities.
Does it help that Barack Obama is bi-racial—being both Black and White and that he was raised by his White mother and his White grandparents? Does it help that he seems like a man of the world—having a father from Kenya and having lived three years of his childhood in Indonesia? Perhaps. And perhaps this is what gives Obama the ability to transcend race. Culturally, Obama grew up White. He’s familiar with third world culture and he speaks Indonesian. Over time, though, he also came to understand who he is as Black man in America. Perhaps Obama is a bridge. A bridge who can carry both races—many races—to a new time in America.
To have a Black man as a serious, viable and electable candidate demonstrates that anything is possible. It also demonstrates that America just may belong to us too. And if it can belong to us, surely it belongs to every other American as well. I think the message of hope and change in an America filled with fear and despair is one that resonates with every American—Black, White, rich, middle class or poor.
The bottom line is, Barack Obama not just talks about hope, he embodies hope—and that’s what voters see and hear. If a man from the historically most oppressed group in America can overcome life’s adversities to achieve the American dream, and potentially become the nation’s first Black president, surely everyone else can hope as well.
Congratulations Obama, and congratulations to everyone who paved the way… You Did It! (WE did it)!
Copyright ©2008 by Anita S. LaneVisit my online family magazine http://keepingfamilyfirst.org/Check out my new book, http://lessonsmytoddlertaughtme.com/
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