I saw a lot of tears election night. I'm a weird cat, emotions burn slow in me. I didn't get 9/11, emotionally, until months later when I started reading the individual stories. I think I was most sad, like a year or two after the towers fell. Ditto for our First Black President. I felt good Election Night, but mostly numb. But all this week small things have been pointing me to the importance of this moment.
I saw this picture over at TPM. I don't think a lot of folks understand how hard black people take their portrayal in mainstream media. We probably spend more time bemoaning the latest R. Kelley affair, than bemoaning racism. America is like the NFL--without the salary cap. And some days to be black, is to be a Detroit Lion. Before they fired Matt Millen. And then something like this happens, and after years of feeling ashamed you look up and you see what you represent on your best days, what you hope your fam represents--vision, courage, competition, confidence--is represented at the highest levels of this country. You wake up and realize that your best face, is the face of the country, is the face of the world.
I'm broadcasting live from Harlem at five in the morning. The boy has to go to school. I've got to go run my miles. I haven't done a lick of work (as my mother would say) and yet. already, I feel the need to have a drink. Damn. Black people, are ya'll ready for this?
The Beautiful Struggle: A Father, Two Sons, and an Unlikely Road to Manhood 
As a life-long Detroit Lions fan, I think I finally understand the black experience. Thanks Ta-Nehisi!
I'm a slow-burner too, and for me, it was the next day when George Bush walked out into the Rose Garden and called him "President-elect Obama".
I burst into sobs. The night before, I didn't shed a tear, though those around me were crying. It reminded me of several years ago, sitting through a funeral service for my best friend, not crying, and then a week later bursting into sobs at a writers' conference while listening to the keynote speaker.
Is it wrong to note how great Michelle Obama looks in that picture? I believe TNC had a post detailing a similar reaction, but when you look that good it can't be said enough...
As the D.O.C. said in answer to that question:
YEEEEEEAAAAAHHHH! HA HA HA HAAAAA!
;-)
@KathyF
Ditto that...i watched his first speech...and then i just snapped...couldn't hold it back!
For me it was hearing Desmond Tutu on NPR:
Reporter: Thank you for being on the show, Bishop Tutu.
Tutu: Oh, thank YOU. Thank all of you, America, for giving us all HOPE!
For me at least, somewhere during the campaign, Obama became of those super figures of history, barely tethered to his humanity, let alone his race.
But when they came out for election night in Chicago, the whole family. "Holy shit! That''s the first family! That's our first family! And they're black! That's the new face of America! Woah! Wow!"
I understand where you're coming from TNC. After the election was called on Tuesday night (I was watching from the Harlem4Obama office), people around me had a mix of emotions. Members of the international media caught a guy who burst out in a sponetaneous rendition of Lift Every Voice and Sing, people threw confetti, and I was just a bit frozen at the screen in "disbelief" although after PA and OH were called the rest was anti-climatic.
While buses and cabs were blaring horns and others were yelling from the rooftops (literally) I calmly walked home and set the TiVo to record the concession and acceptance speeches and went to sleep because I had to be up and alert the next day.
However, it wasn't until maybe Thursday or Friday after going back and watching news footage on YouTube that I truly felt astonished. Being involved in the campaign had me feel more like "we finished the project" than "we've potentially changed the direction of the country." Now to get ready for DC!!
funny, i kinda feel the same way. not for quite the same reasons, of course. it's just nice to wake up for the first time in my adult life and know that the face we show the world, the person who represents us, finally represents my values and shows the world a side of America which I'm proud of.
it's not as if white people aren't plenty ashamed of the side of america bush represents, lord knows there's a lot of willful ignorance to be frustrated with in that crowd. the thing is, though, if this election reveals anything about america, it's that we (or at the least a growing majority of us) recognize that our common values bind us more than our differences drive us apart. barack represents my own america better than any republican candidate possibly could given the state of the party, and i'm hoping he hits the ground running to undo all of the terrible abuses of power from the last 8 years.
Agreed. The enormity of this didn't hit me until I saw that Gray's Papaya had changed the 'recession special' to the 'President Obama special.' I was literally standing there eating my hot dogs when it suddenly dawned on me.
Vivisfugue,
I think it's allowed. Though I wasn't a big fan of the lava dress on election night, they both look hot here. The comparisons to the Kennedys have a lot of truth to them. But, no offense to Jackie-O, Michelle shows how far we've come on gender as well as race.
Anyone watch the 60 Minutes piece on the Obama inner circle last night? It was an interview with Plouffe, Axelrod, & the others taped about an hour after the victory speech. Some serious West Wing shit - David Axelrod IS Toby Ziegler - and a more likable group of people is hard to imagine.
for me, it was seeing that toles cartoon with the quotation from the declaration: "we hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal", and a little picture of obama walking up to the white house, with toles' own comment on the declaration: 'ratified, nov. 4, 2008."
that's when the tears came. and hearing in this the voice of lincoln:
"They meant to set up a standard maxim for free society which should be familiar to all and revered by all; constantly looked to, constantly labored for, and even though never perfectly attained, constantly approximated, and thereby constantly spreading and deepening its influence and augmenting the happiness and value of life to all people of all colors everywhere. The assertion that "all men are created equal" was of no practical use in effecting our separation from Great Britain; and it was placed in the Declaration not for that but for future use. Its authors meant it to be--as, thank God, it is now proving itself--a stumbling block to all those who in aftertimes might seek to turn a free people back into the hateful paths of despotism. They knew the proneness of prosperity to breed tyrants, and they meant, when such should reappear in this fair land and commence their vocation, they should find left for them at least one hard nut to crack."
can you believe lincoln's prescience? we have lived through eight years of tyranny--mild by history's standards, but unthinkably unamerican.
now the declaration's own words have come back to remind us of the ideals that we labor for, the ideals we strive to approximate.
we have not yet perfectly attained them, not even now. but we've just come a lot closer.
Adlai Stevenson was the white Barack Obama.
I, er, got a bit messed up this morning when my former student from Osaka, Japan, sent me this.
But I've been an embarrassingly weepy piece of crap all along. (After I jumped up and down on my toes in my living room like a little girl.) :-) Sasha Obama kills me.
Not even close. Adlai was an intelligent man, but he lacked the ability to inspire. If intelligence and the right policies were all that mattered, we would be celebrating the history of President Paul Simon (D-Boring).
Cicero had it right, rhetoric is what really matters. Without it, you cannot convince people of your course of action, for good or ill.
My older daughter got very excited about the election, which they talked about in her second-grade class (not a given in that we don't live in the U.S.). She was very relieved to hear that I'd voted for Obama. She was also really excited that the Obamas have little girls, one of whom is the same age as her. I remember liking Jimmy Carter because of Amy when I was a kid for the same reason. This definitely had a triggering effect on my emotions, again.
In a moment of enthusiasm, I suggested that she write an e-mail to Sasha Obama. Now she's bugging me for the address: anyone have any idea what that could be? I suppose I could always have her write a snail-mail letter and send it to the White House.....
KevDog, um, I was making a joke, and giving Obama a (slightly backhanded) compliment. Thanks for laying it out for me, though. :-P
Hassan took the words out of my mouth. Thanks for putting it in perspective TNC.
After such a historic event, I don't wish to rain on the parade, but being a Detroit Lion hasn't gotten any better since they fired Millen.
Of course, you may be assuming the Lions are going to hire Bill Cower and there is a reason for optimism. I tend to view the Lions like a lot of people on the far left view American, it doesn't matter who is running the show as long as the same owners are in charge (with the Lions, the Ford family, with the US the owners are supposedly:big oil, large pharma, Wall Street, Military Industrial Complex, etc).
@gracchus: For contacting Sasha, poke around the Transition page at change.gov. Alt., try Obama's Senate Office; they should have an idea of how to tell you the best way to get such a letter to her.
Now that some of the Prop 8 funk is, well, not gone, but put into perspective ("look at the trajectory," I keep saying to myself), it hit me this morning, like it has done for the last few days when I have the luxury of giving such contemplations the bandwidth. Moments of pure, unadulterated "wow."
And seeing that picture above. That's our First Family. Yeah, that's them.
I don't think my emotional delay is caused by slow burn, but more of a slow unclenching from disappointments of the last 8 years.
Check this story from a Detroiter who ran into Obama literally moments after the photo above was taken... pretty heartwarming:
http://www.freep.com/article/20081110/COL10/811100379
didn't get the emotional reaction to 9/11 for 3 years, when I went to the church across the street from the site that has the memorial display, but I was ahead of the curve this time. Monday when I was walking to the gym and thought, "this time tomorrow, they'll be calling the first states for Obama," I just lost it.
"I don't think a lot of folks understand how hard black people take their portrayal in mainstream media. We probably spend more time bemoaning the latest R. Kelly affair, than bemoaning racism..."
See I don't really get this. No one thinks that Kells is representative of black people. He's just a sick guy who happens to be black. Like if Billy Joel turned out to be a pedophile, I'm not going to worry about what this will make you Gentile folk think of us Jews.
TNC, mine was a little different. I was an undecided voter on February 20, 2007 and I saw Barack speak in LA. Wasn't undecided after.
Shortly after the speech, he ended up walking the line and as I realized I was going to meet him, the thought of what to say came like a bolt of lightning.
"Barack, you're going to win this."
He looked me square in the eyes and said "No, WE'RE going to win this."
And with that, I knew it was over. Since then, I've won a lot of bets, shed a lot of tears, and volunteered to make the future I had already seen a reality.
No one thinks that Kells is representative of black people.
Sadly, this is simply not so.
When you've got a minority in a majority culture, and the majority doesn't necessarily interact much with the minority, individual acts get painted across the entire minority (wow, could I say "minority" a couple more times?). I'd wager the same thing happens to, say, Koreans living in Japan.
I'm very glad that YOU don't generalize, though!
There is a great slideshow and video of Barack and Michelee Obama with the girls over at the Huffington Post:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2008/11/10/obama-parenting-pda-slide_n_142625.html
What a beautiful family. They love each other so much.
I don't know, Galleymac. Maybe I need to hang out more in Alabama or wherever these mythical racists live, but I've never met anyone who thought Kells was representative of all blacks or typical of a large segment of the black community, or whatever. And I'm a huge Kells fan.
At first I read this as a black ex-patriate Detroiter, who is (unfortunately) a Lions supporter. Have tried to cut them, but they're like my crack. My kryptonite.
Then I realized that you were making a different claim. That being black was like actually BEING a Detroit Lion. Not being a FAN.
And still found something wrong.
Being a Detroit Lion for the last several years I imagine has been like being the punk of the league. Because you are judged on wins and losses the accumulation of losses over time has to batter your confidence, your self-worth.
I have never felt this way as a black man. When I found out the DC sniper was black, I felt ashamed for being CONNECTED with him because we were both black. But I never felt ashamed of being black. And while I bought the social science fiction about black self-esteem early in undergrad, by the time I'd graduated I tossed it.
When Obama was elected, it wasn't as if all of a sudden I was proud to be black. To the extent one could be proud of what is really an accident of birth, I was already "proud" of that. But it WAS as if for the first time I was not only African American, but really American.
If there is a Detroit sports analogy I'd think of being black like being the 89-90 Bad Boys sans the championship. Hated and loved simultaneously.
THe moment that really got me was when they panned the audience during Obama's victory speech and showed Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down his cheeks. I thought about all that Jackson has gone through--he was on the balcony of the hotel when King was killed; he made two proud runs at the Presidency in the 1980s (as a 13-year-old in 1984, I remember being startled when my father, on a whim, flipped the lever for Jackson in the Maryland primary)--and even though I don't much like him *now*, I couldn't help but feel that he'd helped pave the way.
The absolute joy of the people at Spelman College, celebrating Obama's victory, Condi Rice breaking into the widest smile I've ever seen on her, Colin Powell choking up on CNN--all tremendously moving.
It hit me at about 11:03pm on Election Night.
When I found out the DC sniper was black, I felt ashamed for being CONNECTED with him because we were both black. But I never felt ashamed of being black. And while I bought the social science fiction about black self-esteem early in undergrad, by the time I'd graduated I tossed it.
(What you said there!!)
Full confession -- I wouldn't know this Kells individual if he bopped me in the head with a large fresh salmon.
However, I do believe it's a human tendency to generalize, and that we all have to strive to recognize it and take steps to correct it in ourselves.
(Actually, I have to tweak that a teeny bit. When I hear of black people like the sniper, I feel the urge to SLAP them very hard because I know I'll be associated with that garbage, but I don't actually feel bad about myself. I blame the sniping fool for not recognizing that he reflects on others and shaping up.)
(Not to let the generalizers off the hook -- this is just my reflex reaction.)
The photo you post is part of an amazing series taken behind the scenes by the Obama campaign photographer. He's posted the entire set on Flickr. Be prepared to well up in tears once again:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/barackobamadotcom/sets/72157608716313371/show/
"When I found out the DC sniper was black, I felt ashamed for being CONNECTED with him because we were both black."
So you feel a connection to any black person in the world, simply because you're black yourself? Like I don't feel connected to, you know, Ralph Nader because he's white. Or even Lieberman because he's Jewish. This whole black people worrying about how other black people might embarrass themselves puzzles me to no end.
Dear Mr. Coates,
Hello. Myself, being the same age as you and a white Obama voter, talk about it not quite hitting you yet...well, let's just say that I recommend that you and your readers please read the transcript and watch Bill Moyers opening monologue from the last Friday, November 7th edition of Bill Moyers Journal.
See here: http://www.pbs.org/moyers/journal/11072008/transcript5.html
Remember that Obama rally in St. Louis, then one with the old green domed courthouse in the background? There is a significant history to that courthouse.
See the video too. Beyond this, I can't add much.
I hear ya -- and Amen.
As a lifelong Detroit Lions fan I hope I don't have to wait as long for vindication as the country had to wait for Obama.
Man, I'm glad he's president, even if he is a Sox fan.
This got me: "And then something like this happens, and after years of feeling ashamed you look up and you see what you represent on your best days"
So it's true. Gays (of any color) and black people live the same experience. I felt this way on May 15, 2008, when the California Supreme Court told me I was a citizen of equal standing. Then, on the day I voted for Barack Obama, the people of California informed me I wasn't citizen enough to sit at that lunch counter called "marriage". I look at my new President and First Lady and I think, "His parent's marriage was illegal in several states." I know that experience. So is mine, but in more states than than Obama's parents ever had to think about. I have my choice of states where I can expect to be openly humiliated because I believe that "equal" means the same thing it has always meant. I might as well have rainbow-striped skin. I'm glad Barack Obama remembered to say "gay and lesbian" in his victory address. I cried when I saw those words scroll onto the captions that deaf people like me depend on. I signed to my husband: "He remembered us!"
I looked up all the references to gay marriage in Obama's "The Audacity of Hope". He's against it. Another lunch counter where I'm not welcome.
I didn't vote for the lesser of two evils. I voted for an honest man with the talent to lead us. I served in the Air Force for eight years knowing I wasn't welcome there, either. But it didn't stop me from loving my country, my state, my community, my family. I'll serve Barack Obama, too. He can't solve everyone's problem but he does believe in hope. Me, too.
To anyone who thinks $600 million is too much to spend on a presidential campaign, here is a little context. Obama was not just running against another candidate, he was running against more than 300 years of American culture and mythology depicting Black americans as sub human. Think about all the books, newspapers, folk tales, movies, magazines etc. that in ways big and small were devoted to promoting this canard. At less than two million a year, I'd say that's the bargain of this or any millenium.
The fact of it hit me when the campaign's internals called Ohio (I was in NY Obama HQ). But then, I've been an overconfident bastard about the election for months.
The symbol of it didn't really hit me until a couple days later, when President-elect Obama held his first press conference. He walked in, and a whole room full of elite (mostly) white folks stood up, silently and respectfully.
The reality of it, beyond the fact that we won, beyond the fact that the Bush era is over, beyond the fact that a black man is America's face in the world. The reality that, finally, we might just get some halfway decent policies that will make people's lives better, that my god Barack Obama is going to be the most powerful person in the world. That part hasn't really sunk in yet.
Asher, I'm a white guy from a small down in the deep south. I AM upset when a fellow white guy from that town does some dumb-assed thing. Good for you that you don't feel bad when your "folks" do bad things. I do...but I also know I shouldn't.
Rhetorical question:
Do other bloggers type the way they talk?
I think black people need to learn something that white people learned a long time ago: don't put your faith in politicians.
That said, there is one enduring lesson from this election: a lot of white voters aren't racist.
@Asher
The phenomenon I refer to isn't a "black" thing as much as it is a group thing...my Jewish students have expressed it. And I think it's pretty easy to understand. Using the Detroit example I felt proud as hell to be from Detroit when the Red Wings won. Even though I only watch them play during the playoffs, and have never watched them live. They somehow "represent" me.
Take that sentiment, the loose nationalist feeling that drives it, and just flip it.
I knew Obama had this thing when he appeared in front of 30K people with Oprah in SC. I'm not an Oprah fan, but the idea of drawing that many people at that stage of the game and closing with "Signed, Sealed, Delivered." Wow. Nothing Obama did after that ever gave me a reason to think any differently.
Being white, I feel a bit of voyeur when it comes to noticing the more intense emotions of the black community over Obama's election. But that as much as anything is what I've found moving. When I worked the polls on election day as part of Protect the Vote, a black fellow was grumbling as he left the polls about the hours he had waited in line. I tried to say something appreciative and encouraging. It became quickly apparent that he was not really grumbling. He was looking for someone to talk to. He was 33 years old and it was the first time he had ever voted. I shook his hand and he grasped mine long and hard and almost cried.
My only concern is that black Americans who voted with such success this first time, might not understand that it is important to show up year in and year out to vote even when you are not winning. New voters were a big part of Obama's win. But so were all the people who voted every year like clockwork for Carter, Mondale, Dukakis, Gore and Kerry.
Coates,
I still think the best picture of this group is the one of Barack Obama and his mother-in-law. Either one of those pictures, I thought, well, summed up Black folks' to a tee.
Marian Robinson was born into an America that had total limits on what she could do because she was BLACK and a woman. She graduated high school. She did what countless other Black folk did, they poured themselves into their children, and held back their sadness and betrayal of the American ideal, and pushed their children forth to love this country, despite all its faults.
She sent not one, but TWO children to Princeton.
And now, her daughter will be The First Lady.
I know for you and me, this is a wow moment, but man, I'd love to hear an interview of your father and his contemporaries, who are more along Marian Robinson's age. I just don't think we can comprehend.
It's no coincidence that we saw Jesse openly weeping, as well as Colin Powell and Dr. Rice. Remember, Colin Powell's wife is from Bombingham, and he remembers all too well what it was like for his activist father-in-law. Condi Rice was best friends with one of the 4 little girls murdered in the basement of the 16th Street Baptist Church. that kind of legacy leaves scars
Re: "I don't think a lot of folks understand how hard black people take their portrayal in mainstream media":
You're right--I'd never thought about it that way.
I wonder how different that is from the anguish and shame so many of us have experienced because of what our leader has done in our name these last years.
I am a white man living in Chicago, and Barack Obama is my best face too.
I've never followed politics really closely, but got addicted to this election and was pulling for Obama all along. I was surprised Wednesday morning when I didn't feel euphoric. I think this was due to 3 things: 1) Sadness about Prop 8, 2) hearing and reading some right-wing bs and also confronting some racism in my own family (a la "he got a free pass because he's black") left me feeling like Obama was just a sitting duck for all his opponents, and 3) nervousness about the tremendous pressure put on him by his supporters. I was in a funk for two days.
But then Friday something wonderful happened. Two things, really. 1) I spoke to a close friend who told me she voted for Obama. It's the only time she's voted for a Democrat. 2) I spoke to another friend, a Christian conservative who voted for McCain but who told me that she cried when she watched Obama's acceptance speech. She said even though she didn't vote for him, she is excited about his potential and hopes for great things. Those two things really drove home for me why I supported him in the first place and filled me with HOPE. Just the mere fact that he got these two people to stop and think....I have been feeling so joyous ever since.
This weekend, at JJP, we were making a list of those ' wow' moments that we just never thought we'd see with Black folk.
I was with a friend of my sister's today, and she came up with one that hadn't been mentioned:
Thanksgiving in the White House.
One of those events happened on Friday, when they Press Corps stood up for him at the Press Conference. I was like ' Did they just..' and had to rewind to see it again.
I'm an old white guy who was for Obama early on. The night he won in Iowa I was in an Irish bar in DC and when the results were announced I was stunned by the number of whites of all age who stood up and started cheering. When he made his victory speech that night no one uttered a word until he finished and again the cheering broke out.
I knew he had a good chance to win at that point. The next day I took a cab ride and argued with an African-American taxi driver who didn't believe he had a chance. But that's all history.
Tonight, reading this blog, I thought of how I was happy that Obama won. Then I realized that even though I was keenly aware during the campaign that he was black and wary that there might be a white backlash, since his election I have not thought of him as being black. MLK's dream that we would judge a person by the content of his character seems to be settling in.
In a moment of enthusiasm, I suggested that she write an e-mail to Sasha Obama. Now she's bugging me for the address: anyone have any idea what that could be? I suppose I could always have her write a snail-mail letter and send it to the White House.....
Posted by gracchus
I know I sound old-fashioned, but I think a postcard or an actual letter to Sasha would be better. Ask and see if they're giving back postcards from Sasha.
When I was a kid, I wrote to Amy Carter and got a postcard back. But, do it after January 20th. The address will be easy..LOL
If you want to write to the Obamas in Chicago, try:
PO Box 8102
Chicago, IL 60680-8102
Yeah Lester, I'm proud of the Phillies, being that I'm from Philly, but that's because (a) the whole concept of a sports team is that they rep your city, and (b) there are way, way fewer Philadelphians than there are white people. You know what I mean? If a white person happens to be a sniper, I'm not going to be like, "oh shit, I feel CONNECTED to him, he's white like me" because white people are such a huge and diffuse group - whereas I might feel some small connection if the DC sniper had turned out to be a Philadelphian. And even more if he hailed from my particular suburb. But "he's white, ergo I feel a connection," that makes no sense.
Maybe I'm weird, but the only time I have ever felt mildly patriotic has been during the Olympics. I have never understood all this "Proud to be American" stuff. The U-S-A!!! chant at McCain rallies annoyed me to no end. I knew that the United States was probably a better place to live than most other places, but I couldn't really see how it was any better or different than England or Canada. I was born here, so I had no point of reference, but I knew the people at the McCain rallies were probably born here, too, and they simply loved the U-S-A! so what was wrong with me? What was I missing?
I had always wondered that...but around 11pm on November 4, 2008 I finally figured it out. It was never my America they were chanting for and I didn't like their America - even though I am Southern and white and looked like I belonged. My America looks like Grant Park looked on the night I became a Patriot. On the night I finally started shouting U-S-A!! in the streets. On the night I decided to buy my first American flag. On the night I decided it really did matter to me that my husband become a citizen rather than just staying a permanent legal resident. I wanted our entire family to be American citizens, because I was "Proud to be an American" - I finally got it.
And then, the next day, I saw that Prop 8 passed and I felt like I'd been punched in the gut. I am not affected by Prop 8 whatsoever - I am straight and live in Georgia with my husband and kids. What do I care? I care because if my kids are gay, they won't have the same rights as your kids and this is my America now so I can't stand for that. This is my America where all things are possible and my president is proof of that. No one can tell me my children aren't as good as their children or that my children won't be afforded the same opportunities as other children. That I will not stand for no matter who my children may or may not one day want to marry. You will not tell them they can't. I know this now. My children will have equal rights in My country.
I was walking through Times Square and I saw the words "President-Elect Obama" on one of those flashing news tickers, and I had this joyful sense of dislocation. It sounded like the name of a president of some other country, somewhere far away, but it's our country!!! We aren't big on the ethnic sounding presidents in this country. The only non-British presidential names we've had so far are Van Buren, Roosevelt, Eisenhower, and Kennedy. We've only had three presidents whose name ended in a vowel--Pierce, Monroe, and Coolidge. And only one whose name started with a vowel--Eisenhower. Now, we have a president whose flowing name starts and ends with vowels. We are now truly part of the world. Or rather, we are representing the true richness of we already are.
TNC,
For me it was at 11:02 when wikipedia first updated. It read Barack Hussein Obama II the 44th President of the United States. And I thought to myself, a black man named Barack Hussein Obama II, born to parent in marridge that was illegal in 9 states, is the President of the United States, no nation or people have ever done anything half as amazing, elected the member of an enslaved minority to lead them.
The Times of London said the election of Obama cemented in the minds of the world that the United States is the land of staggering opertunity. I can only imagine the day when Obama, a black man, decends the stairs of Air Force One at the Nairobi airport. If that doesn't ensure a stream of the best, brightest, most ambitious immigrants, ensuring our global dominance for the next 200 years, nothing will.
Zak-
I LOVED the 60 Minutes interview last night. I know everyone commenting here has the same niggling sense in the back of their brains--especially after this almighty asskicking week that Obama has had SINCE Tuesday--is this guy REALLY as awesome as he seems? The "brain trust" interview really made it clear that, to his closest advisers at least, Obama is what he's cracked up to be--not just an icon or a cult hero, but a true leader. You could tell they admired him so much, and it was really gratifying to know (well, we already knew, but to really be told) that the campaign was his, not his handlers. But man, if we all had a crew like his around us, we could damn near be president, too! So glad Axelrod and Gibbs are coming with to the WH!
YES WE CAN! Every time I think it, it means that much more. Thank you, President Obama, for what you've helped us realize about ourselves.
That's beautiful, Ta. Enjoy the new paradigm.
The tears came about two hours before the election, oddly enough. I was working in the campaign office, when a little kid, about 10, handed me a photo of Obama.
It was captioned "...not by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character."
I cried like a baby.
It hit me when I saw the family together on stage after Obama's acceptance speech. It struck me just how normal it seemed to have this family as the First Family, in spite of the fact that it's anything but normal to have a black president and his family occupying the White House. It was that cognitive dissonance that made me go "Wow!" and realize that we really had turned a sharp corner in history.
>Black people, are ya'll ready for this?
Hell, white people, are you ready for this ... at least those of us old eough to have lived through Civil Rights years ... and cringed, and were ashamed (I was a child)
And man, I rejoice every time I see their faces, the Obamas ... but it will take, what, a year to sink in?
The most beautiful, astonishing sight ...
Some dolt alleges that Adlai Stevenson was the white Barak Obama. They ought to read Arthur Schlesinger's journal, published by his sons a year ago. Stevenson was a god damned prima donna and made inexcusable choices following the assasination of JFK. I'd put him in a league with Ralph Nader who is now calling Barak Obama an "Uncle Tom."
For the past couple of months I've had Neil Young's 'Living With War' in the cd player. Sometimes I'd have it run on repeat for hours on end. Tonight, before changing it out to U2, I played it one last time. The group singalong at the end - America The Beautiful - definitely resonated. After coming back from 'Nam, I didn't ever want to hear a patriotic song again and still haven't uttered the pledge of allegiance since leaving my father's home forever. Forty years is a long time.
Listening to them all sing about the beautifull this evening, suddenly the thought came that I might change my mind after all.
anna perez: "Obama was not just running against another candidate, he was running against more than 300 years of American culture and mythology"
So true, excellent perspective.
It hit me twice...first when Michelle Obama spoke at the Dem convention in that gorgeous sea-foam green dress...I was like, wow, THAT is going to be the first lady. I had gotten used to seeing Barack and thinking of him as the president...but seeing Michelle up there, it really hit me, something amazing was about to happen.
And election night was kind of anti-climatic, after he won Penn and Ohio, I was kind of sitting there going, oh...hey, he won. I think he just won. The next day, everything all looked the same, not much was different. But then just these little things...seeing the words "President-elect Obama" on CNN over and over again. Realizing that it wasn't a question anymore, it had happened, losing that unsettled what-if feeling. But it was when...I forgot where I saw this...a picture of the profiles of 4 presidents...Lincoln, Washington, someone else, and then Obama's...then it really hit me. I had seen all those white male presidents in the history books as a child, and it had imprinted in me a certain way of viewing and perceiving the world in a way I hadn't even fully understood. All of a sudden, Obama's picture was next to those guys...and it was like this emotional shift. I don't know how to describe it, seeing his picture next to theirs...everything just suddenly FELT different, history FELT different. I can't wait for a gifted inspirational woman president - any race.
On Election night, my friend Miriam, who is from Trinidad, said,"I don't think I'll feel it---we're used to Black presidents. I'm happy, but I don't think I'll feel it that much."
But at 11:02, when CNN announced it, cars outside began honking, people in the apartment above were jumping up and down, we were all screaming, and she began to sob. Her two children are in the Army, serving overseas, and she realized that when they said they were serving their country, for the first time they would know that it was finally, truly, fully theirs.
It's been a hard year for me, but since November 5, waking up every morning and remembering Obama won is like getting a present: I smile.
It keeps hitting me...and hitting me...and hitting me.
Our President's name is Barack Hussein Obama.
It flips me out and makes me feel "good crazy".
I'm white - I'll never fully *get* what this means for a black person in America. But I damn well have tried, all my adult life, to understand and have hope.
I'd been emotional for weeks before 11/4. Just praying like I've never prayed before (lapsed Catholic that I am), and trying to believe it was possible that Obama could win, but not sure I could trust some folks to *do the right thing* for a change. By the time the election was called, I just felt this unreal sense of relief flowing thru me... tears too, but mostly just relief. The next day, I had a chance to once again hear a snippet of MLK's last speech, in particular.. "I may not get there with you..." and I broke down and cried like a baby...
To repeat what Michelle O. said once... I have never been more proud of my country in my adult life, as I am right now...
I'm taking Inauguration Day off to celebrate and watch.
May Obama have a career as brilliant as -- and longer than -- Barry Sanders'.
@Asher
If you understand what it means to root for a team you have no financial interest in--they aren't paying you, or your family, your livelihood in no way depends on them--then you understand what it means to identify with a group good or ill. this is what it means to be black and to feel good about obama, or bad about the dc sniper. doesn't matter how many black people there are. the number of people in the "i rep philly" group has to number in the millions...and there is no way you can meet or encounter all of them.
Sports metaphors-yuck!
Two anecdotes from this past weekend:
On the bus a drunk black guy tells the white driver: "Obama's gonna get you."
At a sidewalk cafe a black street type is fucking with two women. A white waiter comes outside and tells him to leave. He responds "I know who you voted for motherfucker."
I've always said that the single most important impact of Obama as President would be the visual impact of America seeing a black family in the White House, a wholesome, beautiful All-American black family.
I have always believed that the Jackie Robinsons and Arthur Ashes of the world do more for race relations than all the Al Sharptons and Jessie Jacksons combined. Yes, Obama may be part of the "exceptional black man" category and his election doesn't mean that racism in America is dead.
It does mean however, that more Americans are going to grow accustomed to being lead by a black man. It means more people who may have been biased against it before are going to have to recognize that an African-American person might be the best one one for a job and the most suited to lead.
I guess that means the city of Detroit can't be saved until the Lions win the Super Bowl. Now that would be a party in the streets the likes of which we've never seen.
Thanks for this post. I was speaking with someone yesterday about the periodic bursts of happiness I get when the outcome of this election comes to mind. I did cry when he gave the victory speech. In the days since, I'll be engaged in some activity and then I will remember...He won!!! The burst of happiness comes over me and then I go back to whatever I am doing. It is analogous to the feeling you get after you get the call that you've gotten the job, or the acceptance letter to graduate school with full tuition, or after your fiance proposes, or you find out you are pregnant (planned or not:-). The in between time that spans the news and the actual event is usually filled with bursts of joy when that blessed success or victory comes to mind. I hope my body is releasing endorphins when I get these bursts. If others are experiencing this same euphoria, maybe some report will show a decrease in depression and illness in the next four years...provided the GOP doesn't try to pooh pooh on everything.
I can almost sleep at night.I cant wait till he is in the white house so I can at least know the country is in competant hands!God bless him!
The night of the election I turned to my companion and said what I've always thought: This was never about race. This was about competence. The most capable, most intelligent, the most presidential person won. The additional fact of his ethnic background might make me proud, but it's not why I'm glad he won.
I'm a standard-issue white middle-class guy from the LA 'burbs, so I can't begin to imagine what this could feel like for black folks.
I do know that some people are getting carried away (mostly white commentators), like this one election somehow erases the fun-filled 400 years black folks have been gifted with here. But it matters, clearly.
What strikes me is how it's making *me* feel - proud. But not proud as in, "look how far we've come and how much nicer white Americans are to black Americans now," but rather just proud to have this man represent us to the world, to lead us through this time. His intellectual brilliance, sheer political ability & cunning, and remarkable ability to shake the slumbering better angels of our nature awake are more than we dared to hope for in this troubled time.
I'm proud not because he's black and the best of black America (though that is clearly true and important in ways I can't enumerate). I'm proud because he's the best of America, period.
Part of that is his black identity, to be sure, what he's had to overcome and the fact that he has. But the bigger part is just that compound of elements in him that we are so very lucky to have right now, when we need it the most. I feel like we spun the roulette wheel, and our winning number is black 44.
Jake said: "...finally represents my values and shows the world a side of America which I'm proud of."
Obama sure seems to represent a more informed and humane position--that I, too, am proud to associate myself with. And just the fact that the country decided to elect him tells me that he will do justice to the vote; finding himself in that situation that recipients of good will often do, he will dig deep and find greatness he didn't know he had, and thus meet the expectations of those who placed their hope in his hands.
It's going to take many years to heal the financial destruction wrought upon America by the republican philosophy, but the healing of the American Spirit happened in a brief moment, as a black American and his beautiful family walked out on that stage in Chicago...
P.S. I wish you all would stop writing about how it (election night) made you feel, as I don't know how much longer I can continue to cry in joy. 8 years, hopefully...
P.P.S. I wonder what would have happened if McCain had chosen Condolezza Rice, who is infinitely more qualfied than Palin...
The importance of America deciding that the best person for "the" job is Obama creeps up on me and I become speechless. I know that history is not changed by this event and that bigots still spread their poison like maggots sense decay. But with this change, comes a change in the mood of a nation.
This is the first time in my life when I truly feel a sense of belonging in my country. I feel the shift in my African-American culture as well as in all American people of color. My grandfather, who is still with us by the grace of God, was able to witness the nation affirm his citizenship. When he was born, it was ILLEGAL for him to be educated in public schools. He never learned to read and signed his ballot with an X. By the time his son (my father) was born, blacks still could NOT vote.
Now they’ve both seen the nation scream out for change and demand better leadership. The best man has been judged on the content of his character and not by the color of his skin. Talk about a dream being prophetic! I still tear up thinking about the eras my father and grandfather were born into and I cry with relief that my nephew will not understand those times.
As a black person, I'm more concerned if Obama does a good job. We have so many problems confronting us, I'm not sure anyone can solve them.
Count me as one of those who thinks this is a double-edged sword. I have a sinking feeling that if Obama does everything a president can do and this thing doesn't work out, we're going to see just how willing people are to judge individuals as such and not by their color.
He's getting the inbox from hell. He won't be half as popular by March as he is now. Even given that there's a slight chance he can fix things. I pray he does. And if he doesn't I pray we don't judge an entire race by one person.
But other than that, yeah I'm thrilled. Now let's just get the country, all of us, back on track and I'll be really happy.
I'm not belittling in any way what Obama's election means to the country, but I've got to call you out on the carpet a tad based on what you've written. You could have easily taken "black" out of your statement about some days being up, some days being down, and it would apply to EVERYONE I know of EVERY race and background.
My personal audacity of hope is the hope that we can drop the PC crap that has been shoved down our throats for about twenty years now and is only just starting to wear off...barely.
I swear if I hear another NPR commentator go from "african-american" to "people of color" to "blacks" in the same interview, I'm going to blow a gasket. (News And Notes, anyone?)
My whole point being that now, hopefully, the Gen-X'rs and beyond can move past the entrenched notions of race that so imprison our parents and grandparents.
Perhaps the "dolt" referring to Adlai Stevenson as the white Obama was referring to the Pulitzer-winning photo from the Flint Journal showing the Democratic candidate with a hole in the bottom of his shoe. Obama's leather soles look nicely scuffed.
http://www.flintjournal.com/125/paper/galleries/history/source/14.html
I didn't vote for the man due to policy differences. But I am proud that those Americans who supported his positions did not back off because of race.
Even though I oppose most of his stated policies, this is a fine moment for OUR country and does wonders for creating a "more pefect union".
To African-Americans, this is YOUR country as much as it is mine. A black Republican President, an African-American as the wealthiest person in the nation, an African-American Speaker of the House. Those will happen to. We are overcoming.
I will oppose President Obama on most policy probably. But I will support him whenever I can and will always hope for him to succeed for the sake of our country. Best wishes, goodwill, and godspeed.
One of the most glaring facets of all of this is that the problems we're currently dealing with are so large and so varied that even someone who opposes nearly all of his policy positions finds themselves hoping that despite everything, he succeeds. God help us all if he fails.
Unlike certain Democrats currently in office, I do not buy into the party line that says anything that goes bad for Obama is good for my side. I didn't believe that in the last couple years and I don't believe it now.
I'm a white guy from Detroit and I appreciate the Lions reference. I would like to say I voted for Obama and fully support him in all he does. But what I would most like to say is, "Hooray for America, Hooray for us!", we did it and we did it the right way. When I see African Americans all over having hope put in their hearts and dreams, its nothing less than magical. At times during the election I was a Doubting Thomas for sure, I thought racism and greed would play a bigger part, but like a movie straight out of Hollywood, backs to the wall, we came together and put the best man in office. Churchill once said "Given no other choices, Americans will always do the right thing", I believe ladies and gentleman that we stand before a great turning point in history, where children will read in school books, how a brilliant Senator from Illinois became one of the greatest and most inspiring Presidents of all times and helped transform America into the leader in green technology through out the world.-Ryan Foss
If you would look at me on the street, you probably would think I was an old, fat, bald, Republican. I'm a good case for the thought that looks can be deceiving. I grew up in a mostly monochromatic (White) suburb of Grand Rapids MI, & didn't know any African Americans until my 20's. I was 16 when Martin Luther King and Bobby Kennedy were assassinated.
I didn't cry when Mr. Obama was finally elected.
I knew he would win--I cried when I had the choice between a brilliant African American man and a brilliant woman in the Arizona Primary. My entire adult life, I've admired Martin & a felt my vote, while entirely in my own self interest, also honored a great, great man. I didn't cry when MLK was killed,I didn't understand, but listening to recordings of him and reading him have helped me be the person that I am.
I rejoice in Mr. Obama's election and our win. We old, bald, white guys judged him by the "content of his heart rather than the color of his skin." Martin's dream has finally begun to be realized.
Now we have to all get behind Mr. Obama to ask "what we can do for our country." His success will be ours, too.
I just thought this summed it up perfectly...
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/kobe_bryant_scores_25_in_holy_shit
I'm the whitest guy you'll ever know. I can't even tan. When I go to the beach I just go from white, to red, back to white. And I'm utterly psyched about this election. America is a mixed bag, with the evil and beautiful living side by side, but I'm just amazed that we've made this kind of progress. Not that everything's fine now, but damn if this isn't a sign of progress.
re: "...Jesse Jackson with tears streaming down his cheeks. I thought about all that Jackson has gone through--he was on the balcony of the hotel when King was killed; he made two proud runs at the Presidency in the 1980s..."
I saw Jackson berate two bellhops at a hotel in Ghana for not getting to his bags fast enough. He really was demenaing. These were just about the poorest working black people in the world and there he was, "Don't you know who I am?! Why aren't my bags up yet?!"
Hey I might not be a Christian, but I do believe the gospel writer had a point who said, "As you do to the least of these..." I was gonna say something to Mr. Jackson before I saw how poorly he treated these poor African working stiffs. I didnt say a word to him. Fuck him. But I was overly nice to the bellhops after that.
I don't care what people say about public figures; they SHOULD be judged on their personal lives as well as their public images. Hey, if you can't treat people right, you're a sorry m-th-rf-ck-r.
It didn't really hit me until a friend emailed me from New Zealand and said "Give all your fellow Americans a big thank you from us!" I burst into tears.
Jackson is a bastard.
But those tears were real.
I am a white woman who grew up in a white state--New Mexico. The first time I heard about segregation was watching television when I was eleven. A program about the struggle in the south called Who Speaks for Birmingham was on, and I was riveted. I was horrified. I had been brought up to believe that everyone was equal. How could this be in our country?
I have held this horror for almost 50 years, watching racism in this country slowly erode. The new generation is very good at not noticing race, and I think it will be a moot point with their children. But for me, as I watched the election returns, I dared not to hope and believe that Obama might be elected.
When he was, the whole room full of white people were crying, men, too. We had been holding our breath for a very long time.
For three days I wept off and on, and now as I write this, I am teary. At last, people of color have a place of respect and authority in our country, and my heart wants to burst with pride that we did it! WE, THE PEOPLE, WHITE PEOPLE, TOO, ELECTED A BLACK MAN TO BE OUR PRESIDENT!
Surely this will do more to improve race relations than all the talk and the contrived efforts to make things equitable. We have shown that we recognize a leader who is smarter than the rest of us, disciplined, and ready to lead us out of our morass. I couldn't be more pleased. My inner eleven year old is vindicated.
I held my breath through McCain's speech. Then watching the rally in Chicago as Obama spoke, I became a weepy, sobbing mess. I called a friend and we sobbed together. We talked about our fathers, grandfathers, and great-grandfathers. Two days later I printed many articles from around the world and read them and cried. I have been crying as I read these posts here and am crying as I write this. Don't know when I will stop. In my life tears wash out the old and make room for the new. I look forward to crying more tears. I am ready, able and willing to work as hard as necessary to make this country a place I can be proud of. In response to a congratulatory email from a friend in Italy I wrote, I AM PROUD TO BE AN AMERICAN. I surprised myself...pleasantly.