Living History

Some of my white friends are telling me Obama can’t and won’t be elected president. Their reasoning is simple, America is still too racist to seriously consider a black man for the white house.

My question to them is...”does this mean you’re not voting for him either?” At which point they are horrified that I’ve alluded to the fact that they, too, might be too racist to vote for a black man. After all, we’re friends, black woman, white man. We share life, conversation, stuff. We’re friends. We can talk openly about this race thing to each other. We are “there” for each other, more quickly than some of our own family members. Yet...

Inwardly, I agree with my friends. I don’t believe America is ready either, despite the results in Iowa and what I presume will be the results, tonight in New Hampshire. To my mind, it’s still way to early to call an election that takes place in November. We’re more than a month away from super primary day on February 5th, when 28 states will hold primaries, including California, New York and New Jersey. We still haven’t gone through the nomination process. The candidates for the nominations haven’t really, really been talking issues yet. Personal attack politics is just revving up. All politicians suffer uniformly from “foot in mouth disease.” We’ve got a very long way to go.

I’ll admit, I’m swept up with the possibilities that are unfolding around the candidate from Illinois. I’m drowning in hope and optimism that finally, finally, in my lifetime, we will take another step toward color blindness in this country. But there have been so many disappointments...one step forward...two steps back.

,Obama’s win in Iowa and his numbers in New Hampshire feel like a snow ball about to take off down a hillside, gaining momentum, unstoppable. It feels good, damn good....Yet...

I’m sad, because that snowball is probably going to run over the first serious female for the white house. But is it really surprising. This election follows history. Black men got the vote years before women. Black men rise much more quickly than do women, if only one at a time. Men seem less intimidated by other men, than they are by women. Men take other men more seriously then they do women.

My same friends don’t like Hillary Clinton either. She’s been tough, steely...that’s no good. Yesterday, she nearly cried...showed emotion...softness...that’s no good either...because everyone knows, there’s no crying in politics! I hope she doesn’t fold. I hope she’s stronger than that. Lose...but don’t cave-in...Don’t let em see ya sweat!

There is a lot of talk within the black community about Bill Clinton being the first black president...about how we’d like him back in the white house. Well his legacy appears to be Obama, a for real black man.

I hope that’s true.

I miss Bill Clinton, but I think, if given the chance, I am voting for Obama!

Time will tell!