[Home] [Headlines] [Latest Articles] [Latest Comments] [Post] [Sign-in] [Mail] [Setup] [Help]
Status: Not Logged In; Sign In
|
(s)Elections See other (s)Elections Articles Title: Obama Victory Buoys Black America Across the country on black radio, they were calling it the happiest day in America. At his studios in Dallas, Tom Joyner, a nationally syndicated black radio host, was jubilant over Sen. Barack Obama's ride to clinching the Democratic nomination for president. Taking a call, he said, "Isn't this a great morning?" "It's a historic morning," the caller said, jokingly correcting him. Joyner's enthusiasm was endless and echoed in black households across the country. "If you have a bad day at the office," he said, "no matter -- it's a Barack Obama day. If you go to the gas pump and you have to pump $80 worth of gas, so what -- it's Barack Obama day." Obama defied a long-held belief among African Americans -- that America would never be ready for the moment when an African American would be able to truly announce, "I will be the Democratic nominee for president of the United States." Obama's nomination is a watershed moment, said Earl Ofari Hutchinson, author of "How the GOP Can Keep the White House, How the Democrats Can Take it Back." "None of the stereotypical negatives apply in this case," he said. "That's why you see so many African Americans rushing to him. That's why you see so many African Americans cheering -- because, for the first time in a long time, we see a guy who's come along that represents the best and the brightest in terms of achievement attainment." Rep. John Lewis, D-Ga., a veteran of the civil rights struggle, said that Obama's victory speech Tuesday night in Minneapolis brought tears to his eyes. He said Obama's achievement makes the beatings he suffered and the deaths of so many civil rights leaders seem worthwhile. "Just a few short years ago, in a state like the state of Alabama, in the city of Montgomery, blacks and whites couldn't ride in a taxi cab together, couldn't stay in the same hotel, couldn't eat in the same restaurant, people could not register to vote," Lewis said. "And now, these same people, their offspring, their children," Lewis added, "are registered [to vote], and they voted for Barack Obama in the primary and will vote for him again in November." Lewis and many others said that young black Americans now have a powerful new role model who is neither a musician nor a professional athlete. At an Atlanta-area summer camp, 9-year-old Jeremiah Darden proudly announced, "If Barack Obama can do it, I can do it." Eleven-year-olds Bresha Baker, Jalisa Conklin and Colbi Nelson have been following Obama's bid for the White House and seemed far wiser than their years. "It makes me feel that I can do anything I wanna do, and succeed in it, and maybe even run for president one day," Baker said. It was surprising," Conklin piped in, "and it was just amazing to, you know, see an African American be a nominee." "If I was old enough to vote," Nelson said, "I'd vote for Barack Obama." At Morehouse College, a historically black university for men, students said they were moved beyond words by Obama's nomination. "Our alumnus, Dr. Martin Luther King, talked about having a dream," said Morehouse student Brandon Douglas, 20. "But the bad part about a dream is you wake up, and when you wake up, that dream might not be a reality. But this morning, I woke up and the dream was actually a reality." In a historical coincidence, Obama will officially accept his party's nomination in late August, on the 45th anniversary of the events that inspired Martin Luther King's famous speech.
Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 1.
#1. To: PoliticallyIncorrect (#0)
So this means we can disband the EEOC, right?
#2. To: Tauzero (#1)
No, our version of the Nelson/Winnie Mandela, ANC-nightmare is just beginning.
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest |
||
|
[Home]
[Headlines]
[Latest Articles]
[Latest Comments]
[Post]
[Sign-in]
[Mail]
[Setup]
[Help]
|
||