Today is a historic day for the United States. Today the first man of African descent will be sworn in as president. It is fitting that this occurs after Martin Luther King day. His dream is at least partially fulfilled. Unfortunately, not all of it has been.
There is still a lot of ridiculous stuff going on. Watching the news coverage of the inaguration yeasterday I noticed something odd. All of the reporters sent to DC from local stations and most national stations were black. Now I am not saying they don’t deserve to be there, but if we are supposed to ignore color then what happened here? I am pretty sure skin pigment has little to do with how good a reporter is. If we want to fulfill Dr. King’s dream we should all be together regardless of race.
I think Obama has a great chance to push this dream forward. He called for people to go out and serve on MLK day. I think Dr. King would love this. This is in sharp contrast to people I once worked with who would call in sick on MLK day so they could sit at home and goof off. This doesn’t honor his legacy, it mocks it. A man who fought for everyone to have the right to have a job on equal terms would not want us to lie to that job. He certainly wouldn’t want to do it in honor of his birthday. I think Obama made a great step by calling for service on that day. That truly honors Dr. King.
Obama has an opportunity now to do something no other president in recent history has done. He can unite a lot of people. Our country has grown more and more divided through the Clinton and Bush presidencies. Obama has a chance to repair that. I don’t know that he is the second coming as some people seem to think, but by being a good even handed leader he can do a lot. If he can keep his party from trying to swing too far to the left; if he can get people off all races and backgrounds to work together; if he can work across party lines, then we all will benefit.
I didn’t vote for Obama. I don’t agree with all of what he beleives. In fact I don’t think Dr. King would either. But as a biracial man he has an opportunity to represent more than just one group. He can represent us all. As a Christian I will pray for him even if I didn’t vote him. If he works to heal, rebuild and protect this country he will have my support. Going forward I hope he can do all of what he has promised and fulfill all of the hype. If he can then perhaps Dr. King’s dream will come true. Perhaps my son will grow up in a stable, happy, color blind America. That sounds like a great dream.
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