Gushing
So, at long last the Democratic Primary season has ended. The smoke has cleared and Barack Hussein Obama is moving on to the election for the President of the United States of America.
I can't believe I just wrote those words. This is not going to fix the problems in this country, as a wise man once said "we'd be stupid to think this is going to be easy" but I do think this goes a long way. It means that the stumbling block, the barrier (border fence, if you will) that rascism has been for so long in this country, has been diminished. It is not gone, I doubt we will ever see the day when it is gone, but it's smaller today. As this article points out, a man who, fifty years previous, could not have VOTED for president, on threat of death, has a chance to become president. That's huge, that's amazing. It's absolutely not the end of the work that needs to be done in this country, but, it's a beginning at least, and beginnings are beautiful things.
Writing this, and reading that article I linked to, I am practically in tears. There is are a few things which, to my knowledge, the people on this site, and in much of the world, are unaware of. First off, I am by far the youngest of seven children and, save one, each of my siblings has at least two children. My sister Mary has two lovely children, D (Short for Dwayne Jr) and Maryhelen, and my brother in law, Dwayne, is black. So, this is a family issue for me. I have seen the predjudice around me, for a long time, as an attack, on my niece, my nephew, and brother, and my whole family. So, this, is big. I'd like to think it means that my nephew, whose face and hair distinctly mark him as of African descent, will no longer have to worry about his race in job interviews, or if he is pulled over by the police. I would like to think it means that suspicious eyes will never scan my niece, who looks very African as well, as she shops in a mall, or hangs out with her friends. And I would like to think it means that my brother in law will no longer have to consider the motivations of any wrong against him, and that he and my sister will never again be refused service at a restaurant for being a mixed race couple. And I hope that a million other wrongs against a million other people, will never happen again. But this is not the case. It is a start, but only a start. However, as Aaron Sorkin put it, "I'm not asking to have it done for me, I just want things to be a little easier, that's all, a little easier." and I think, I hope, that the candidacy of senator Obama truly will make things a little easier.
Paix et amour,
Joe!
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