Almost One Week

It has been one week since Barack Obama was elected our 44th President. I've settled down a little bit but not much. Back in September I talked to an African American man at an Obama Rally in Detroit. We both agreed that we thought he could win by a landslide. That same hopeful attitude is what had brought us to a rally of more than twenty thousand in downtown Detroit. As I stood in the enormous crowd, most of us knowing we wouldn't get anywhere near enough to see him, I looked into mostly African American faces of all ages and saw the hope. It was the same hope, the same excitement that I felt.

I was born in a small town near Birmingham, Alabama in 1942. My great grandfather's family had owned slaves and fought for the Confederacy in the Civil War. Where I lived, everything was segregated. I watched the men who worked with my Dad as they walked home along the alley behind our house. They were not allowed to walk down the street. I drank from 'white only' fountains and went to an all white school. In about 1953 or so, I watched a KKK parade, with torches blazing, go right down a main street in Birmingham. I also remember my Grandmother telling me they were "hoodlums". The KKK was not well thought of in our family. My father visited his black friends during the mid 60s just to take a stand.

And yet, I was raised by people who grew up with an attitude that Black people were 'not like us'. It was the "separate but equal" that was their attitude and belief.


I recall arguing with my family, loudly at times, wishing that I was from another place with a differnt heritage. But I wasn't and I suffered the guilt of my heritage.

When I first heard Obama speak, I was awed and excited. I read his books and his policies on the internet. I took every opportunity to learn more about him. I sent money to his campaign. I was so certain he was the perfect man for president that I stopped caring what color he was. I knew he was calm and controlled and though a liberal, not an ideologue. I wanted him to win.

Last Tuesday night, I was unprepared for what I felt. I felt elation and ran around the living room screaming and laughing . . . and crying. I watched as Jesse Jackson shed tears and I shed tears with them, finally relieved to see that we have taken this huge step in our culture, that we have come farther than anyone even knew. I'm so proud of our country. I'm proud of myself, my children, friends and family. We are one people and as Obama says "we are the United States of America".