Today is one of those days in history that will show up in high school textbooks from here on out.
The obvious part of today is that those of you who live in the US now have a new President. And because he is an African-American man this is a day unlike most others.
I watched Sunday as Obama spoke during an Inauguration concert at the Lincoln Memorial. Seeing a black man give a speech on those steps isn’t anything new, but doing it as the President of the United States is a new thing.
We have come a long way in the past 45 years.
Today shouldn’t be about a Democrat winning the election.
Today shouldn’t be about partisan politics or turning the economy around or how the new President will deal with the ongoing conflicts around the world.
But for some, today is sadly about those things.
69% of African-Americans say that Martin Luther King Jr.’s dream has been realized.
And I have no doubt that for many of them it has only been realized in the recent months.
Today should be about freedom and equality.
The reality is that freedom and equality are ongoing desires and goals. It isn’t to say we don’t have both living in the US, but today marks a day of more freedom and equality in this country.
Let’s celebrate what unites us (if not just for one day) and minimize what divides us.
January 20th of the year 2009: A day to celebrate the freedom and equality that unites us.
(Everyone is blogging about this today, check out some posts here.)
