What It All Really Means

The 44th President of the United States of America will have one thing that previous Presidents did not have. A large dose of melanin. Sen. Barack Obama is uniquely different from past Presidents and that will be evident every time someone lays eyes on him, but what is important to note going forward is what his election means to the people of the United States. Sen. Obama went from being just the third elected African-American Senator in the United States since reconstruction, to being the first African-American nominated for president from a major political party. From there he is now the first person of African descent to serve as leader of the free world.

This means many things to many people. Undoubtedly it means a great deal to Black Americans who have occupied any space in the United States. Many Blacks see this not only as Sen. Obama's accomplishment but as something that all Black Americans have accomplished. Many recognize the direct line between prominent and public figures like Frederick Douglass and Barack Obama. Many see that line as having gone through people such as Dr. W.E.B. DuBois, Dr. Martin L. King Jr., Stokely Carmichael, and Jesse Jackson to get to this point. In keeping the memory of these giants alive, Black folks have also kept with them memories of Montgomery, Birmingham, and Selma. These werent' the only places atrocities were happening, they were just places where the heinous behavior of Whites was caught by the national media. Millions of Black Americans carry with them daily the personal humiliation, terror, fear, anger, and disrespect that a racially prejudice nation exacts on a Black person's life day in and day out.

For them, this election means something much more. The election is confirmation of their humanity. Dr. Gregory Carr of Howard University says that the Voting Rights Act of 1965 never told Black people they can vote, it told White people that the Constitution gives Black Americans the right to vote. This election didn't tell Black Americans that a Black man was qualified to be President, it told White voters that a Black man was qualified. That is why this election becomes so special. It becomes special because it was not only Dr. King's dream, but the dream of the 250,00 others who joined with him on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial that their children be judged by the content of their character. In many ways, Black Americans feel that they (through Sen. Obama) have been judged by the content of their character. When King joined striking sanitation workers in Memphis some of the men protesting wore signs that said "I Am A Man." That was a declaration that for many in this country needed to be made. For hundreds of years the humanity of Black Americans always existed but was not always acknowledged. Just as their humanity came under question so too did their place as Americans. James Baldwin said that Blacks could never commit treason because they were never viewed by Whites as real Americans. Because of this they could not betray something they never really had in the first place. On the heels of this election, many Blacks living in the United States feel a sense of belonging and acceptance for the very first time.

The pride in this election is not exclusive to Black Americans. Many White Americans too feel a sense of pride and accomplishment at the election of a Black President. For many young White Americans they had to live with the humiliation and embarrassment of the behavior of their ancestors. They listened as the stories were retold of the unimaginable horror and terror that White Americans reigned down on Black Americans for centuries, not counting the institutional racism that pervades United States society. Many young White people wanted a chance to carve out their own niche in United States racial history. They wanted an opportunity to show they were better than the past. An opportunity to display the supposed growth and progression of the nation. This opportunity came in the form of Senator Obama. Mr. Obama offered a racial olive branch to Whites who committed such vicious transgression in the past, while seemingly offering a sense of pride and hope in a people long downtrodden in the United States. This perfect combination helped to fulfill Dr. King's unforgettably poignant and memorable words. "The Negro needs the White man to free him from his fears. The White man needs the Negro to free him from his guilt." Blacks used White Iowans and their caucus night election of Barack Obama to free them from their fears, and Whites used a Black Presidential candidate to free them from their guilt.

At any rate in such an historic time the words of many great thinkers and scholars seem appropriate. None seem more appropriate though than the a simple phrase uttered by a music artist not thought to be particularly articulate, philosophical, or political. Young Jeezy sums things up the best by simply stating "my president is Black." That simple sentence means so many things to so many people. Any well reasoned person will see there is plenty of room to criticize President-elect Obama and his policy positions. Also most people recognize that his election will not end the institutional racism of the nation, but for so many older Black people, they can close their eyes knowing that at least one person of African descent was given the opportunity to do something that for them was unheard of. Those people can smile knowing they can leave the nation they have lived in, fought for, fought against, and demanded better from in better condition than they inherited it. The United States is not yet a more perfect union, nor the mythological shining city on a hill, but it is a majority White nation, that calls a Black man with a Muslim sounding name President.