I wonder
Today was an historic date for the United States of America. Today, the people of this country packed more people into the capital mall than ever before. It was history in the making.
For those that have ever followed any of my rants here it would come as no surprise that I was not, and still am not, excited about President Barack Obama. I cannot get behind this whole "history being made" trip associated with today. We elected a man to be our next president. We did not elect a messiah, a savior or God.
He is just a man. I know that he is black. Well, part black. And that his election to president is a momentous occasion because of the racial implications surrounding that. And I am glad that the color lines have been shattered by his election. Cool. Can we move on from that now? I just wonder.
I wonder why it is that Obama's half-blackness even has anything to do with today. Granted, it was historic that we as a country elected a man of color in November. The fact that he was of minority decent played really no role in the decision made by the majority of people in the United States. At least I would like to think that. Voting, or not voting, for someone because that someone is of a particular gender, ethnicity, age or religious belief seems somewhat prejudicial to me. And I want to give the benefit of the doubt to our country that we elected this man because of the promises he made to us during his campaign. But I wonder.
[FOR THE RECORD: I did not vote for Obama. When I say we I mean we as a country. I am part of this country and am part of the we, even if I did participate in the electing of Barack Obama as president.]
Perhaps I just don't understand the hysteria surrounding today. Or perhaps the real celebration is not in the election of the man but his actual internment into the house. Maybe the real celebration is that George W. Bush is out of office. Regardless, I wish we could see that Obama is just a man. Half-blackness and popularity not withstanding, he is just a man.
Please do not take my words to mean that I am a racist, against minorities in office or in some way against the thought of someone of color being president. That is not the case. I myself stem from a minority heritage, a heritage fraught with struggle and hardship. It was nothing like the injustices suffered by our black brothers and sisters, but it was enough so that looking back on history I am able to see that minorities in America have always had a hard time being accepted. Skin color and ethnic heritage have never been an issue for me and never will be.
No, I think my issue with President Obama is the platform that he runs upon and the unadulterated status as hero and savior he has not only managed to obtain but has done nothing to quiet down. He is a man. Not a super man. Just a man. He won the presidency on a fairly narrow margin (I believe it was 53% to 46%) and has left the better part of the country wondering what the hell is going to happen if he implements even half of the things he promised he would in his campaign. If he held true the ideals of morality and humility that many of the leaders of the civil rights movement professed, wouldn't you think he would have already made it clear that he is just another guy doing a job that the people asked him to do? I just wonder.
And in that same vein, wouldn't a man that seeks unity among the people of the country he is now leading seek first to squash the over-emphasis of those that are making more of him being black than anything else? We should not be making President Obama our first black president. We should be making him our next president. Period. Is he using this time as a means to bring the people of the United States together? I just wonder.
I am not worried about his holding the highest political office in the land. Nor am I in fear of what can happen if the ideas he presented during his campaign and throughout his transition planning time are ever brought to fruition. But I am concerned with the level that the most vocal and outspoken people of the country have elevated him to. Yes, he is a good looking man. Yes, he is half-black. Yes, he is tall. Yes, his wife know how to dress the part. Yes, he has great speech writers. Yes, he smokes. Yes, he uses the internet. Yes, he knows how to hide his actual place of birth. Yes, he knows how to dodge hard questions. Does any of that make him a great leader? I just wonder.
I suppose all we can do is pray for him, his administration and his decisions. Lord knows he will have a lot of deciding to do. I can only pray that he heeds to advice of solid counsel and that he makes decisions that cover the multitude of the country in a way that does not alienate or persecute those that are not covered by his decisions.
1 Therefore I exhort first of all that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men,
2 for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence.
3 For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Savior,
4 who desires all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth.1 Timothy 2
After all is said and done, though, he is still my president. He is still my leader. And he still deserves my prayer. More than anything else, he will be inheriting a country that is in terrible disarray, one that has lost a lot of trust in our leadership and has lost even more trust in the Republican party. We are hurt and hurting. We are broken. We are battered. And we need, more than anything, a strong leader that we can rally around not because of his skin color or political party but because of his character, his strength and his wisdom.
Can we as a country do that? Can we bring ourselves to set aside his ethnicity, his political party, his political beliefs so we can focus on his ability? I just wonder.
