President-elect Barack Obama’s victory over former presidential GOP candidate John McCain shouldn’t just be considered a victory for African-Americans, but for America.
It was a collaborated effort among all races.
However, African-Americans, Hispanics, and all other minorities should thank white-Americans for voting a black man into office. Not as a debt paid off, but for overcoming the fear, uneasiness, and uncertainty some Caucasians faced when they contemplated voting for a minority.
Barack Obama could not have won the presidency had he not clinched the white votes. It is simple math; voters are 60 to 70 percent Caucasian and only 10 percent African American, 13 percent Hispanic, and about 12 percent of various minorities. This indicates that an evolution would have had to taken place in American society.
This evolution occurred within white Americans’ mindsets. Rarely does it occur anywhere in the world that a minority citizen is elected president by the majority vote, regardless of the system of government.
Therefore, a change must have occurred to cause Caucasians to vote overwhelmingly for Barack Obama, but not for past African Americans who ran for presidency.
Though Barack Obama did secure the most powerful job in the world, it doesn’t mean the end of racism. Obama’s win only began to turn the page. America is changing, growing up past the racism, sexism, and ageism that has crippled it for so long.
America is becoming a more inclusive society. An example of this inclusivity is in most American’s desire for the ‘American dream’.
A dream shared by every citizen and maintained as a right, by the government, for each to pursue. This dream would not have been possible without courage, defiance, and responsibility.
Though Obama’s victory does comfort people by providing a visual aid of how far America has come, it also signifies how long we have to go.
It will be a tough going because it is never an easy road. But let us all congratulate each other for making it thus far.
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