POLITICS
NOVEMBER 4, 2008
“America is the civilization of people engaged in transforming themselves. In the past, the stars of the performance were the pioneer and the immigrant. Today, it is youth and the Black.”
That prophetic quotation was attributed in 1973 to Harold Rosenberg, an author and an art critic. If Mr. Rosenberg were still alive he would have been pleased to say “I told you so”
The election yesterday was one of those events that marks a generation and the candidate who addressed his followers so eloquently in Grant Park last night may truly be a transformational figure in American history. His acceptance speech even shivered these old bones that have been asleep since the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy more than forty years ago.
Those of us who were active in the exciting movements of the sixties never imagined that they would live to see an African American elected to the highest office in the land. People were being beaten and killed for merely advocating that African American citizens be allowed to sit at the same soda counter as other citizens. Racism has been a cancer in this country since its founding. You would only have to look at the tears on the faces of Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and John Lewis to realize how deep the wounds of racial prejudice have affected the lives of its victims
And now I believe that we are now finally entering a post-racial era in this country. It is only the beginning but hopefully, the old cancer will die off with my generation. Ironically, we can thank George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for this. It was their arrogant incompetence that forced a majority of the American people to come face to face with the toxins in our society.
But in the final analysis, it was the young and the African-American population who had the courage and perseverance to turn the electoral tide in the right direction.
Harold Rosenberg was truly a prophet.
JVP
NOVEMBER 4, 2008
“America is the civilization of people engaged in transforming themselves. In the past, the stars of the performance were the pioneer and the immigrant. Today, it is youth and the Black.”
That prophetic quotation was attributed in 1973 to Harold Rosenberg, an author and an art critic. If Mr. Rosenberg were still alive he would have been pleased to say “I told you so”
The election yesterday was one of those events that marks a generation and the candidate who addressed his followers so eloquently in Grant Park last night may truly be a transformational figure in American history. His acceptance speech even shivered these old bones that have been asleep since the assassinations of Martin Luther King and Robert Kennedy more than forty years ago.
Those of us who were active in the exciting movements of the sixties never imagined that they would live to see an African American elected to the highest office in the land. People were being beaten and killed for merely advocating that African American citizens be allowed to sit at the same soda counter as other citizens. Racism has been a cancer in this country since its founding. You would only have to look at the tears on the faces of Jesse Jackson, Oprah Winfrey and John Lewis to realize how deep the wounds of racial prejudice have affected the lives of its victims
And now I believe that we are now finally entering a post-racial era in this country. It is only the beginning but hopefully, the old cancer will die off with my generation. Ironically, we can thank George W. Bush and Dick Cheney for this. It was their arrogant incompetence that forced a majority of the American people to come face to face with the toxins in our society.
But in the final analysis, it was the young and the African-American population who had the courage and perseverance to turn the electoral tide in the right direction.
Harold Rosenberg was truly a prophet.
JVP
1 comment:
Great comments, Jay. I shed tears right along with Oprah and Jesse. You see, what many people do not know, is that I attended a segregated school in the South and had to sit in the balcony when I went to the movies. One summer I was chased for over a mile by young white racist boys calling me "nigga" all the way. Thankfully, they did not catch me!
When my mom called me on Election night sobbing aloud, I thought something was wrong with her health. But it wasn't that. She was crying for all the pain caused by racism and discrimination she has known in her 81 years. She had not dared to fully believe Obama would be our next president. Once it happened, she exhaled and the tears came.
This presidency will finally turn things around in this country for the better. I know it. I feel it. I am glad to be alive at such a moment as this.
Sharon White
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