America: Day One

So here it is; America is deciding if it can elect a black man as its leader. Everyday Americans of all stripes and colors, spanning the entire spectrum of class, region, and ethnic background are going to the voting booth and having their say. I can’t tell you what we as a country will decide no matter what the pollsters say. They’ve been proven wrong far too many times, but I can tell you no matter what happens I consider this ground zero. Today America actually became America. So what does that mean? For me it’s an implicit promise given at our founding and so well articulated by Dr. King, that we are a nation where a person is judged by the content of their character and not the color of their skin or any other externality for that matter. This is idea that has been taught to young Americans from generation to generation and while it has always been a source of strength and a powerful symbolic force that has made this nation unique and an inspiration to the world, it has not always been true. Only through the hard fought efforts of Americans from the foundation, to the Civil war, to suffrage, and the civil rights movement and many moments in between have we moved to that more perfect nation. I don’t mean to imply that this is a nation now free from all prejudice or that it has achieved all it hopes to in terms of social justice, but I do believe in my bones as most American’s now do that no one is automatically excluded from being the people’s representative, whatever their demographic make-up. Yes it is true that there has yet to be a female president, or a Jewish or Asian or Indian one (dot and feather). But it is also true that a biracial individual, who not so many generations ago could very well have been a slave in this country, could now very well be its leader. The biggest hurtle has been cleared and the other demographic check marks will simply be that, check marks that will have political consequences, but not to the point of utter exclusion. Let me put this more bluntly; if we can elect a black man we can elect anyone. That is a promise that no nation in the history of the world has ever achieved. That promise is why many around the globe once looked to America as the hope of the world and why I believe come Wednesday they will again. Annuit Coeptis or roughly translated ‘she approves our undertaking.’ It’s on the dollar people!