Our Country Grows Up A Little

I wrote this right after Barack Obama won the Presidential election and was encouraged to share it, so here it is.


It is the 4th of November, 2008, in the fortieth year of my life. This day, a man – a black man – only a few years my senior was elected President of the United States of America. The significance of this event in my life may be difficult for many to understand. The sympathetic and empathetic heart and mind can imagine but never fully comprehend its importance to my own and the collective black American psyche.

Today we are made to feel a little more American. Today we are made to believe we really do belong. Yes, the vestiges of white supremacy still linger, but today we see that its power and influence, its grip on American society and its ability to shape America’s collective attitude are but shadows of its former strength. Make no mistake; there are those on the fringes who will be emboldened. They will seize this moment as an opportunity to justify acts of desperation meant to preserve their sense of entitlement. Words like “senseless” and “depraved” will be used to describe their actions and speech, but we need only keep in mind that these are the last gasps of a dying monster. With its demise comes the need for an even greater work – reconciliation.

We cannot be whole and live in denial. We cannot move forward by trying to forget the past. Until white people confront the sins of their forefathers and the benefits gleaned from them honestly and openly, they cannot free themselves of their guilt. And until black people recognize and correct our own self-destructive vices, we cannot demand to be accepted as equals. Both of our spirits are damaged. Both our spirits need healing. Only after we have been painfully honest with ourselves, can we begin to become whole. Then we will be fit to embrace each other with soundness of mind and emotional freedom. When I can see myself as a man rather than a black man, I have enabled myself to see others as, merely, men. I may have met this challenge with a few individuals and prevailed, but until I can reform my attitude towards entire groups of people who on the surface do not resemble me, I have much work to perform on myself. The events of this day help me to see that my efforts are not all for naught.

Don't get it twisted. I do not want my ethnicity ignored. It is an integral part of my identity which I embrace wholeheartedly, because my life experiences - positive and negative - have been influenced by it greatly. Nor do I wish for a world where tolerance of differences is the norm. Tolerance is a dirty word in my lexicon. I don't want others to feel they must endure my presence. What I desire is a future when no one takes my ethnicity into account when making assumptions about my character. A future when I don't feel the need to filter my perception of others through my own racial biases. A future when I am always comfortable being myself. Just let me...be. Don't place glass above me, boxes around me or stumbling blocks ahead of me. Most of all do not lower you expectations for me, rather, raise the bar and I will meet the challenge, then turn around and do the same for you. That future somehow seems just a little closer now.