My friends over 40 consistently remark, "I never thought I would see something like this during my lifetime!" I feel every word. Growing up in the South and living in a "de facto" segregated community, the idea of the majority population ever taking a Black man seriously enough to consider him for the highest office in the land was about as realistic as a klansman joining the Nation of Islam. Dare we believe that this could really happen? We know that there will be every dirty political trick in the book thrown at the campaign. There will be those that will attempt to appeal the deepest, darkest racial fears that still find refuge in far too many American hearts. But even that might not be enough to stand in the way of a movement that is long overdue.
What if he wins?
There will be those that will feel that this will signal the end to racism in America. They would be wrong. There will be others that will erroneously think that an Obama Administration will solve all the problems that poor and minority communities face around this nation. President Obama will still be but one part of the government of the same United States that once considered people of African decent 3/5ths of a person. He would make progress, but the struggle will continue.
What if he looses?
America will have lost an opportunity to make a giant step forward. Fear will prevail over hope. This country is at a crossroads. If it chooses to hang on to it's racist past, it will risk the spawning of a different kind of movement. Just as the initial rejection of the non-violent movement lead by Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., helped to move disaffected Black people to Malcolm X or the Black Panthers, a rejection of a movement of Hope and Change could lead some to loose faith that this country will ever change through electoral politics.
