"DENVER - When this campaign ends, after future presidents have come and gone, and when today's young people are grown old, history will remember Wednesday, Aug. 27, 2008, as the day a black man became the presidential nominee of a major party.
This is history with the ink still wet; transcendent, yet in your face now.
It's a history that belongs to the red states and the blue states and the United States... "
This is history with the ink still wet; transcendent, yet in your face now.
It's a history that belongs to the red states and the blue states and the United States... "
So says the Associated Press. And somewhere in Northern Virginia Robert E. Lee is turning in his grave.
We have come a long way haven't we? And to think, just a little over a hundred and forty five years ago, you could have bought someone that looked like Barack to till your land. Now he is just a few electoral college votes away from leading this bitch. It says a lot about these divided states that we live in. It says a lot about our potential as a people and a nation.
I know I am very cynical when it comes to the racial attitudes of the A-merry-can people, but the truth of the matter is that not all A-merry-cans deserve my cynicism. Some of you are really decent people who really want to see this country rise above its differences and meaningless prejudices. Some of you. I am guessing maybe 70% of my melanin challenged friends fall into this category. The other 30% of you...well, hopefully, you are all very old.
And then of course, as is always the case, things aren't always so black and white (no pun intended). Oh oh here comes field with some negativity. Nope, no negativity here. Just reality.
The reality is, that his "O" ness isn't stained by the legacy of slavery; his mama was white and his daddy was African. His ancestors weren't brought to A-merry-ca against their free will, and there are quite a few folks in A-merry-ca who feel that this works to Barack's advantage. He is not angry like the rest of you black A-merry-cans, because his ancestors weren't wronged. The people in the majority can accept him because there is no guilt. His rhetoric is that of reconciliation, and healing. Forget the forty acres and a mule, just give me the white house, and the symbolism of that act alone will make your conscience free, whitey.
At the end of the day Barack looks more like me than the average A-merry-can, so having him in the White House would have given the rest of the folks who look like me a sense of pride at knowing that one of us finally has a chance to run the ship. I honestly don't think that there is a thinking black person in A-merry-ca who believes that Barack will be the answer to their problems. If he were to be elected (and that's a big if), the bills would still be due, there would still be a great chance of getting shot walking to the corner store, and you would still have to get a fucking passport to go a grocery store where you can get fresh meat and fruits. The schools will more than likely still under perform, the criminal justice system will still be imbalanced, and special interests groups like the murderers at the NRA, will still control Washington.
But one of us will be on television everyday holding those White House press briefings and telling us that everything will be alright. The A-merry-ca we love and cherish will not succumb to the culture of corruption in Washington, and the checks and balances that are in place will protect all of us, and not just the wealthy and connected. Hearing that from him will have a different meaning to many of the folks who look like me, it will be more believable. And at the end of the day, that's all black folks want, a chance to believe in something. They have found there reason to believe, now they are just hoping that enough of you A-merry-cans feel the same way.
Yes we can. But can you?
