If Obama Wins, have black folk overcome?

My wife just walked in and posed an interesting question, "So if Obama wins, does that mean we've overcome?"

Yes it does. Not that every problem is solved, but...

Think about that a moment… If Obama wins, history is forever altered in this country. A black man has become the most powerful man in the world. All those "negro spirituals" of old were sung about this day. On this day--Nov 4, 2008, the United States of America Elected a black man to be its President. On this day--the promise of America was truly fulfilled. No more was America a place of lofty ideals only, but its people have proven they are truly capable of overcoming their history and electing--as Martin Luther King once dreamed, a man "not judged by the color of his skin but rather by the content of his character."

Black folk are eerily silent because they don't fully believe it. They are happy, but they are eerily silent about what this means. It's like they don't want to jinx it. They don't want to mess it up. Yes, y'all the world is changing. But it's not just black people. The whole world is watching. You can feel their eyes.

Two hundred fifteen thousand people showed up to see Obama in Germany. Imagine how many would show if he went to other more populous nations--say Brazil, Mexico, Colombia, India, Japan, China?

In Colombia they print his image on lottery tickets to help sales. The whole world is feeling the change coming. The whole world collectively holding its breath to see if the great United States of America will turn its massive power away from the study of war and towards the establishment of peace and freedom for which it is supposed to stand, but for which it has failed to stand lately.

Imagine the excuses that go out the window for all those who claimed “the man” was holding them down. Even racists can find at least this reason to vote for Obama--that by doing so, they effectively receive full right to claim racism no longer exists in America.

Imagine, too, the story you tell your grandchildren--that you voted for the first black President of the United States. It is a collective social badge of honor to forever share with your family akin to having marched on Washington with King. Twenty years from now, everyone who voted for Obama will be American Heroes--and those who didn't, the equivalent of Bull Conner's firehose brigade in 1963 Birmingham.

What else could you be, given Obama's obvious trumping of John McCain on every single issue? The stubborn insistence of conservatives to vote for McCain is so far past any reasoned logic that it begs to be called either massive ignorance, blind partisanship, or outright racism--regardless of which it truly is, it won't be anything any grandchild would be proud of.

And, in the long run, whether the reason was party loyalty, misguided religious pressure, massive ignorance, or racism, eventually you won't be proud of voting for McCain either--especially after he loses overwhelmingly. So why not come on over and chose to make history? You'll be proud you did.
--TRL.