a new day, for better or for worse

The election of the first black President this week is historic for many reasons, not the least of which is that the occupant of the White House will be an articulate man of substantial intelligence who wants to do right by the American people.

I commend Senator McCain for his classy, dignified concession speech. I wish his followers would pay heed to it.

I would like to say I am disheartened that so many of his followers, in venting their outrage at the results of the election, are demonstrating that their hostility towards Barack Obama is due to the color of his skin. I would like to say I am disheartened, but frankly I expected it. Their bigoted motives are illustrated by the first "joke" I heard after the results were announced. I won't repeat it, but the punch line included a reference to watermelons and collard greens. This came from someone I respected, and my wife heard the same "joke" from a woman who thought it was the "Christian thing to do" to oppose Obama.

I expected this reaction for several reasons, one of which is that racism is very much alive in this country. It is alive in the older generation more so than the younger generation, which is an optimistic sign, but it is alive. I can now say that racism was a huge factor among the McCain supporters without being accused of playing the race card. I have seen the race card, and it is the joker.

Another reason has less to due with Obama than it does with the history of the Democratic Party in the civil rights movement of the 1960's. It was President Eisenhower who federalized the National Guard in Arkansas in 1957, but it was JFK and LBJ who put the weight of the federal government behind the civil rights movement. It was LBJ who pushed the the Civil Rights Act through Congress in 1964. The Democratic Party has been at the forefront on human rights issues. This has alienated Republicans and Southern Democrats, who drifted away from the party. When I registered to vote in Tallahassee, you either registered Democratic or you had no party primary to vote in. Now the South is a two-party system, and Democratic candidates for every office have to defend themselves against negative campaigns from people opposed to the human rights positions that the Democratic Party is identified with.

Barack Obama represents one of the ultimate objectives of the civil rights movement, and he embodies a core belief of Democrats that a man, or woman, should be elected based upon merit and not race or religion. To illustrate how far we've come, remember that people died during the civil rights movement. Now we have the son of a black father and a white mother preparing to move into the White House.

The man has a daunting challenge ahead of him. He will be hounded every step of the way by the naysayers. I have confidence in him. To the McCain supporters who didn't hear the Senator's concession speech, I'll just paraphrase what the Republicans have been saying for eight years: Obama won. Get over it.