Some thoughts about today...

Jenna over at That Wife raised some interesting questions regarding Obama's inauguration today. In short she said, "If we turn Obama into “The Black President” and judge all his successes and failures as those of the black man who once ruled the free world, are we really living “The Dream”?" The more I thought about it, the more it plagued me, and the more I felt compelled to respond. Below is my response, with some more thoughts added once I moved it here:

I think it is silly of us to think that the media isn’t going to have a field day with anything that is a “first”. They look for any angle they can to exploit, and Obama’s race is just that angle. Remember, if it is “historic” than we all have to watch it, and that means ratings for them!! It would be the same thing had it been Hillary (she’s a woman!) and it would have been something similar had it been McCain/Palin (he (I think) would have been the oldest, and she the first woman VP). When there is only 44 of something, you can find a “first” pretty easily, and they sure will.

In the same respect, I think it would be inappropriate to not acknowledge that him being President does indicate that our country has come a LONG way… it wasn’t too long ago that someone like Barack Obama would have had to sit at the back of the bus and couldn’t have eaten at the same places as you and I, him being President would have been a joke. That now his is President, says a lot about us as a nation and how far we have really come. Just because you and I may not judge him based on the color of his skin, doesn’t mean a lot of other people (both past and present) do. It is just nice to know that enough of us have gotten past that to elect him President.

I think unfortunately, the media has really latched on to the “historic” stuff and not focused on his policies as much as they should have. To imply that many people who voted for him did so only because of his race and not because they believe strongly in what he has to say and where he wants to take this country, is just plain inappropriate. Are there people who did so? Of course. In the same light, there are likely people out there who voted for McCain only because they wouldn’t support a black President. Did you ever notice that the news media always talks to the person on the scene who is probably the LAST person they should talk to? The always sound goofy, and never have much to really add? I feel like that is how the media has covered Obama voters. Like we're a bunch of sheeple who didn't bother to look past his race to see what he stands for (For the record, some of us did, and we actually liked what we heard!). Hopefully for ALL of us, the majority of us voted with our thoughts, morals, ideas and goals in mind and not just with our eyes.

We all have to find the balance between celebrating the fact that he is the first African American President and the fact that he is our President, our leader and hopefully the one to get us through a seriously trying time in our nations history.

Kennedy was once celebrated as the first Catholic President, but he is judged by history for his actions, not his religion. Let’s hope Obama will be looked at similarly. I think when that is the case, we will finally be living “The Dream.”

It seems almost all great changes generally come in steps, and Obama’s election was one of the steps to get us all to the ultimate goal of true equality, and that does deserve some level of celebration. You'd celebrate your engagement before you were actually married right? I think all the steps that get us to the things we aspire to be (both personally and as a nation) deserve recognition and appreciation. This should be no exception.

I can't wish the Obama administration enough luck and courage in these comeing 4 years. Whether you agree with him or not, he faces an uphill challenge bringing this nation back from the brink. Let's hope he can live up to everything he has promised.