An Event To Be Proud Of

I watched the American elections last night and felt the thrill of pride and hope build up as the night went on. It was almost a foregone conclusion that Obama would win the presidency but there was also an underlying worry that something would prevent it.

I tried putting myself in the position of a black woman who has lived a lifetime of prejudice simply because of the color of her skin and thought how overwhelming it must be to see the day a black man would become president of the United States. There's really no way for me to simulate that experience but I can slightly imagine it.

Barach Obama has managed to instill hope in the majority of the population for a better future in the United States. He's made promises he'll need to keep in order to hang on to his following but I think he'll do it. He's young, brilliant, and clean. The few "dirty" aspects of his background that were made public weren't enough to scare us off...no-one expected a saint.

For the first time in many years the United States has created a president worth believing in and I hope so much that he doesn't disappoint us.

There was one point in the news coverage of the elections that concerned me, though. The announcer was giving statistics about the demographics of the voters and stated the percentage of people in various age groups who had voted for Obama. In what is supposed to be a private vote, how did they know how old the people were who voted for Obama or for McCain? I'm wondering!!!

Many of my friends here in the park are Americans who shared their personal choice of president with me. All I spoke to voted for McCain and each had the same fear of Obama. I hope his performance will help to allay those fears and that they'll be able to support their new president. We all fear change and this is a tremendous change in the destiny of the U.S. Let's hope it is for the good of the country. I think it is.