Tuesday, January 20, 2009

A Dream

I've lived in a little town most of my life. And for the most part it has been a largely white town. Almost six months ago now, my family and I moved to Durham, NC where whites and blacks pretty much split the demographic. I can't tell you what perspective I've gained in these few short months about the significance of our nation's first African-American president. Politics aside, and I realize that's a big difficult step for many people, this is one of the most important moments of our nation's history. I know that many people didn't vote for Obama. There were many whites and blacks that voted for McCain and others. But seriously, setting aside all of that - this moment is huge. Just before Obama was sworn in today, a couple of black girls from our neighborhood came over to our house. They came to see us, and to play with my daughters. I've teared up a few times over the last hour or two thinking about this day and all that it signifies. Dr. King long ago dreamed of such a day, when little white kids and little black kids would play together like skin color didn't even matter. And today, while I know that racism isn't over and it's still a reality, skin color didn't matter. I'm so grateful that Dr. King, and millions of others have dared to dream such a dream. And I'm proud that this dream came out of the church - a man of God, a man who loved Jesus. We tried to explain to Hannah the significance of this day, telling her about how people used to be really mean to other people just because of their skin color. Hannah doesn't get it. It doesn't make sense to her. At first I kept trying to explain it to her, but then I realized what was plainly obvious. It doesn't make sense to her because it doesn't make sense. Period. It's crazy. I'm so glad that she doesn't think in those terms. I'm thankful that it will never make sense to her. Once again, thank you Dr. King for daring to dream.

2 comments:

I think that it's sad and pathetic that people voted for Obama for the mere fact that he is not fully white (he's not "black", either - he's a mix of white and black...Dr. King was fully black).

In my opinion, neither McCain nor Obama were qualified to run for the presidency. Obama has no real political stance or background and is a very shady character. Did you read his wife's books and papers from college? If you have not, I suggest you do b/c she clearly has a hatred for whites. HATRED for WHITES. How can you vote for a man whose wife hates white people? Sickening, isn't it? It is the truth.

McCain, however evil he may seem, is not as bad as he may have appeared to be. In fact, did you know that he actually turned his back to Bush while on board Air Force One? He did not agree with the things Bush was doing.

Further, McCain served in the U.S. Military. He defended our country (which is more than anyone can say about Obama).

"Change we can believe in"...what change? Taxes going up? Being further in debt? Losing more jobs? See, he promised America things and has let us down. Taxes are up. We are still fighting an endless war, even though he PROMISED to pull us out of the Middle East...yes, he did promise and we are still there.

He has not done anything to promote green energy.

He criticized Bush for giving money to corporations (such as AIG), then turns around and gives BILLIONS of dollars to Bank of America, AIG (even though he criticized Bush for doing the same thing) and GM.

Obama is a HYPOCRITE. Don't Christians strive to not be hypocrites? Is it not against Christian values to lie and deceive?

Well, your president, Obama, has done so.

He made promises. FALSE promises. Doesn't the Bible warn about false prophets who make false promises?

At least Bush initiated the "No Child Left Behind" act.

What has Obama done? He has broken his promises.

And, to end it, he's not fully black. It was an election for president - not a civil rights movement.

So, here we are in 2010, still in Iraq and Afghanistan, going further into debt, the jobless numbers are on the rise, taxes have gone up...

Looks like our president has let us down, sir. I'm glad I didn't vote this past election...I cannot be blamed for our lack of leadership.

Twitter Delicious Facebook Digg Stumbleupon Favorites More