Post-Election Recap

Yay! The election is over, and we are now officially into the "Lame Duck" period. I, myself, am excited to see what Obama and the new Democrat congress will do (even though I didn't vote for him). Whether something great happens, or our country takes a turn for the worse, these are interesting times we are heading into.

Personally, I am a bit disappointed in some people during the race. I feel that "race" was too much of an issue. Granted, it would be naive to expect that people not recognize the historic nature of electing the first African-American (I would use "non-white," except I think it's particularly poignant of his particular race given the history of African-Americans in this country), however I would have hoped that people would not have factored in race AT ALL in their decision. This, of course, is not to say that he is not qualified for the presidency, though I do believe that people lowered their reservations for such. It's as if people thought, "Hey, he's good (enough), and we really like that he's black."

For instance, about a year ago, when Obama was still campaigning, I had a conversation with my (African-American) co-worker. He was talking about how wonderful it would be for Obama to get the Democratic nomination so he could vote for him. He said that he, for the most part, agreed with his policies, but he was most excited to vote for an African-American, and hoped that America had moved past its racism and would vote the same way. I said that if we had truly moved past racism, wouldn't it be that race is no longer an issue? American doesn't prove "it's not racist" by voting for a non-white, but by not considering race as a factor in the decision process. He replied, that though it would be nice (for people not to consider race), America had not reached that point, and therefore, he should not follow the same course. He would, instead, factor race into his decision.

To that I say, "you must be the change you wish to see." If you want to see the country move that way, where race/gender/ethnic background does not influence a decision that should be based on merit, you, yourself, have to make those decisions, and leave prejudices or favoritism at the door. I think this country still looks at race as too large of an issue, whether it's stereotyping or affirmative action. Hopefully, this new term will help us to realize that. Whether Barack does well or not, I hope he will be known in history not as a good or bad BLACK president, but simply as a good or bad president; as a person capable of successes and failures just as the people that have gone before him.