1, 2, 3... Change!

I wrote this last week after the elections finished and headlines about the new President were everywhere. I considered sending it as a letter to the editor, but decided against that. I didn't know what to do with it- even though I wanted to do something- so here I am, posting it on my blog. It's just my take on the racial impact, I guess, of the election.


No, Barack Obama didn't win my vote, but that doesn't mean I wasn't considering him for a time. During the primary election I probably would have even voted for him over John McCain. (Oh, what would my parents think if they only knew that?!) Like many other voters though, I am more conservative that either candidate was.

Regardless of who I voted for or my political views, I do think the hype about the race thing is blown out of proportion. Yes, absolutely it is historically significant and motivating that the United States of America has finally elected our first black President. One day, one election, one man however, does not mean that suddenly the world as we know it has changed and we have overcome racism. The accomplishment does not lie in the fact that a black man was elected; he (and other African Americans) were on the ballot. Doesn't that immense success count for something? It certainly should.

To say that after one election racism has been defeated is absurd. Obama himself said his victory is not the change- it is the chance for change. What wise words those were. When there's a chance for something, it means there's a chance for something else too. A chance for increased division and discrimination with the increased focus in regards to race, perhaps? Don't get me wrong, I want there to be equal opportunity for men and women of every race. But I do not want the color of their skin-- black, white, brown, yellow, green, or purple-- to be the emphasis.

The next President of the United States is more than just a black man- he is a human being. Nothings "changed." Time will tell if it does.