It is an odd feeling. One that I've never experienced before: being happy at the result of an election. In the years I have been politically aware this is the first time I have experienced this (well, apart from the 2006 U.S. Mid-Terms but I don't count that really). I remember seeing all of those important states going red in 2004 as I sat at a school computer blatantly ignoring the work I was supposed to be doing. I remember the disappointment that came over me knowing that the United States - and the world - was going to endure four more years of George W. Bush.
Contrast that with 2008. I was staying up throughout the night to watch the results come in. Pennsylvania went for Obama. That was brilliant. All of that time and money the McCain/Palin ticket had put into that state in an attempt to flip had not paid off. I was happy, but didn't get carried away. Pennsylvania went for Kerry in 2004, so it was still possible for a McCain win. Then came the second blow. Ohio called for Obama. McCain was in dire straits now, as he would have to flip a strong Obama-leaning state. Then the news came in from the west coast. With the electoral college votes that Obama picked up from those states he was the projected winner of the race and the 44th President of the United States.
I say that again: Barack Obama - President-Elect of the United States of America. This was a country that declared its independence with the immortal words: "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal", it is a nation that was fractured by the issue of slavery, reunited by a great leader only to be divided once more with segregation laws and what became known as the Jim Crow south. The Civil Rights movement reacted against this division. They demanded equal rights for all citizens regardless of their ethnicity. The Civil Rights bills passed went some way to rectifying this problem. Despite this, the country was always run by familiar faces. It didn't matter if they were Republican or Democrat, they were white men. They held one hundred percent of the Presidencies from America's inception until November 4th 2008.
Many years ago, a great man said in Washington D.C.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." That is what has happened in this election. The United States has not judged Barack Obama by the color of his skin. They have judged him on his character. He inspires hope in a way that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did all those years ago.
Him being African-American was not the reason he won in such a convincing manner. His message of change and hope was the reason. Americans have emphatically said that they are willing to sever links with the America of the past. When Americans tell their children that no matter who they are they can grow up to be anything, now they have proof.
I am under no illusion that racism has disappeared in the United States. I am certain it still exists - as it does in all countries. The historic part of this election is that a huge number of Americans have done exactly what Dr. King spoke about. Barack Obama was judged by the content of his character and he was judged to be the right man to lead the United States into the future.
There are so many reasons why I am pleased with the result of this election. The "most liberal Senator" has been elected. Which is astonishing considering that America is a generally conservative country. An African-American has been elected. The man I was supporting since he announced his candidacy (seems like a lifetime ago now) because I believe in his message and agree with most (but certainly not all) of his policies has become the 44th President of the U.S.A.
All the years I have been proud of America, but been ridiculed for it because of President Bush have been answered for. Now I can be unapologetic in saying that the United States is the country I always believed it to be. That in itself fills me with hope.
Contrast that with 2008. I was staying up throughout the night to watch the results come in. Pennsylvania went for Obama. That was brilliant. All of that time and money the McCain/Palin ticket had put into that state in an attempt to flip had not paid off. I was happy, but didn't get carried away. Pennsylvania went for Kerry in 2004, so it was still possible for a McCain win. Then came the second blow. Ohio called for Obama. McCain was in dire straits now, as he would have to flip a strong Obama-leaning state. Then the news came in from the west coast. With the electoral college votes that Obama picked up from those states he was the projected winner of the race and the 44th President of the United States.
I say that again: Barack Obama - President-Elect of the United States of America. This was a country that declared its independence with the immortal words: "We hold these truths to be self evident that all men are created equal", it is a nation that was fractured by the issue of slavery, reunited by a great leader only to be divided once more with segregation laws and what became known as the Jim Crow south. The Civil Rights movement reacted against this division. They demanded equal rights for all citizens regardless of their ethnicity. The Civil Rights bills passed went some way to rectifying this problem. Despite this, the country was always run by familiar faces. It didn't matter if they were Republican or Democrat, they were white men. They held one hundred percent of the Presidencies from America's inception until November 4th 2008.
Many years ago, a great man said in Washington D.C.: "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." That is what has happened in this election. The United States has not judged Barack Obama by the color of his skin. They have judged him on his character. He inspires hope in a way that Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did all those years ago.
Him being African-American was not the reason he won in such a convincing manner. His message of change and hope was the reason. Americans have emphatically said that they are willing to sever links with the America of the past. When Americans tell their children that no matter who they are they can grow up to be anything, now they have proof.
I am under no illusion that racism has disappeared in the United States. I am certain it still exists - as it does in all countries. The historic part of this election is that a huge number of Americans have done exactly what Dr. King spoke about. Barack Obama was judged by the content of his character and he was judged to be the right man to lead the United States into the future.
There are so many reasons why I am pleased with the result of this election. The "most liberal Senator" has been elected. Which is astonishing considering that America is a generally conservative country. An African-American has been elected. The man I was supporting since he announced his candidacy (seems like a lifetime ago now) because I believe in his message and agree with most (but certainly not all) of his policies has become the 44th President of the U.S.A.
All the years I have been proud of America, but been ridiculed for it because of President Bush have been answered for. Now I can be unapologetic in saying that the United States is the country I always believed it to be. That in itself fills me with hope.
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