Today is election day in the United States and it very probably will be a momentous one. Barach Obama has a better than average chance of becoming the first black president and this is a stunning achievement in many ways.
I was born in 1940 and remember the racial turmoil of the 50's and 60's very clearly. I remember seeing newspaper articles showing the sit-ins and marches where black people had begun to strongly demand the basic rights that the rest of us took for granted. The right to attend "white only" schools and have a burger at a "white only" restaurant and the human right to sit anywhere they damned well chose on a bus instead of having to sit at the very back and not having to give up their seats to a white passenger. It's humilitating to think that these atrocities were perpetuated by my race in my lifetime.
In 50 short years the black race has gone from that type of inhumane treatment to having the general population of the country accepting a black man as suitable to be president of the United States. This is an example of not only the determination and success of the black race but also of the white race to rise above prejudice and cruelty. It's an achievement of the human race to have bettered itself.
Whether Obama wins the election or not, we've come a long way, baby!
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