The Election of Barack Obama

The election is over. After nearly two years on the campaign trail, Barack Obama, an African-American, has won the presidency of the United States.

The media and the blogosphere, while maybe a bit hyperbolic in their headlines, are understandably in a buzz over the historic nature of Obama's election. But I think in a sense they have missed the point of why his election is so important. Yes, its historic nature is important. But what is more important is the symbolic and psychological change Barack Obama's election has for people of color.

For every person of color, like myself, America was dualistic in nature: the greatest country in the world, a metrocracy where hard work was rewarded and where anyone could be what they wanted to be. On the other hand, buried in our conscious everyday thought, every person of color knows America was and always is a white world, that we will never have the same opportunities to those whose skin color is a little lighter. Maybe that started to change with Obama's election.

I know much has changed since the Civil Rights era, as blacks and anyone of color have been given more of a chance then anytime in the history of America. Obama's election might just be the crescendo of the civil rights era. I may be wrong of course. Racism will still be around, and maybe Obama's election is sort of blimp on the radar that does not bring about any real change to America.

But a skinny kid with a funny name just got elected to the most important job in the world. And as a skinny kid with a funny name myself, everything I thought I knew about this country has been turned around. And that's a great thing for every minority who believes America has a place for them too.