Wednesday, October 29, 2008

Santa Claus?


In 6 days, I will get to do something that I never thought I would do in my lifetime. I will vote for a black person for President of the United States of America. I never thought I would get the chance. I'm not talking about write-ins or marginal candidates, but a real, live, mainstream candidate. I am old enough to remember Selma, to remember hearing Martin Luther King's speeches on the radio. Remember when the radio was big?- I do. There were no black children in my grade school. I don't think there were in my junior high school either, due to the segregation of neighborhoods. I remember there were riots at the high school the year before I started there and it was frightening. But, by the time I got there, all was calm. Peace and love. Well, not really, but with the Vietnam War we had equal opportunity dying and some other concerns. As far as race was concerned, the reality was we continued to be separate in the same space in high school and college. Friendly at times, but not often really friends. Time marched on, and on and my children went to the some of the same schools with a very different outcome. Their friends didn't look just like them and over time, our family grew to include some colors and shapes that don't look much like our name sounds. That doesn't matter now, because the world has moved on, but I remember a time when that was unthinkable. Now, I know that I, along with millions of other adults are experiencing a feeling that we haven't had since we were kids. On November 5th will the present we've been waiting for, or just another giant disappointment?

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