Comments on: What Obama Means to Me: A Personal Note

By: annabelle

annabelle — Tue, 03 Mar 2009 23:28:48 +0000

whatobamameanstome.com

post here what you think of obama, good or bad.
there will be a book being sent to him with your message.

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By: thinking at the interface » And, then some other stuff happened…..

thinking at the interface » And, then some other stuff happened….. — Fri, 20 Feb 2009 19:59:13 +0000

[...] point out that I’ve posted elsewhere about what election night was like here in NYC, and what Obama means to me. Election night in Harlem was a really, amazing, mind-blowing sort of evening. On [...]

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By: racismreview.com » Blog Archive » Racism (and other issues) among Gay Marriage Supporters

Thu, 13 Nov 2008 21:34:00 +0000

[...] joy at the news of last week’s presidential election was quickly deflated as I learned about the [...]

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By: Dave P.

Dave P. — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 13:55:05 +0000

That was wonderful, Jessie. Thanks for sharing, and for doing what you do. I’ll always be a fan.

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By: Seattle in Texas

Seattle in Texas — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 03:47:17 +0000

Mordy thank you so much for sharing–very powerful along with Jessie and Adia’s above. I echo Joe, and I know all who reads appreciates it too. Thank you

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By: Joe

Joe — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:31:32 +0000

Thanks, Mordy, well said and lots of food for thought there.

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By: mordy

mordy — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 02:07:55 +0000

Ok, here’s my take. I will apologize in advance if not all of these thoughts cohere. Indeed this is a historic time. I am neither an academic nor a minority so I come at this from a different place than most of the regulars here. In short, aside from the day I was married, the election of Senator Obama was the happiest day of my life. I’ve been as acutely aware of the pain and stain of racism as I think anyone who walks in similar shoes to mine can be. Please understand that I don’t mean to imply that I can feel the searing pain or the numbing desensitization of racism that those who regularly experience it feel. I don’t and I never will. Our inexcusable and shameful 400 year history of racism has profoundly bothered me my whole life. However it wasn’t really until perhaps the last 20 years of it that I lived it with any degree of intentionality (to borrow one of Jessie’s phrase) to actively consider and understand what so many of our brothers and sisters have to put up with on a daily basis. I knew if Senator Obama could be elected that all of a sudden everything in the world would be profoundly different. I sat in stunned amazement and overwhelming joy when CNN flashed those magic words at 11PM. I cried along with those who I was watching. I sat in rapt attention as President-Elect Obama strode so purposefully to the dais and as he always does produces a speech that perfectly suits the occasion. I was too excited to sleep and began trying to make more sense out of what I just witnessed. I didn’t get too far that morning, but as a week now has passed, a few dispiriting thoughts have begun to crowd out some of the euphoria. For a week now I have watched America self-congratulate itself with an unrelenting back-slapping that would make you think that we have been collectively fighting for this day for a lifetime. Many of us were, but significantly more of us were not. This bothers me. It will bother me much less however if white people move with considered intentionality to attempt understand exactly what this means. By that I mean we should know precisely what obstacles were overcome, why they were there to begin with and how we can ensure that we never accept such hideous discrimination and racism again. I fear we will not.

I received an email from a relative last weekend with a link to a website that showed headlines from the nation and world’s leading newspapers. The text of the email encouraged us to show these headlines to our children to commemorate this historic event. It began to crystallize in my mind that many white people might simply regard this as an amazing story, perhaps much the same way baseball fans might look at Tampa’s sudden ascendancy to the World Series. Without a painful and necessary dialog (which many white people are loathe or refuse to have) the magnitude of this moment will be lost. It was at this same time I first read Jessie’s post and then shortly after, Adia’s. Their writing and others like it should be mandatory reading to white school children. Sadly, non-white students will have their own stories. Such discussion would naturally encourage meaningful and necessary dialog that once and for all might help us all understand we are in this together and that more brings us together than keeps us apart. President-Elect Obama will provide inspiration and hope to children the world over, black and white. And this is a very real and absolutely profoundly important outcome. Trying not to be cynical, I still remain doubtful that it will do much to erase the persistent segregation that still exists in the twin pillars of our society- education and housing. Thus, in the short term it might only be through such open discussion that this historic election leaves anything meaningful in its wake (from a racial perspective). I pray that this is enough.

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By: Seattle in Texas

Seattle in Texas — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 00:42:23 +0000

Perhaps what it means to you? What ever you wish to share–truly amazing times.

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By: mordy

mordy — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 17:06:42 +0000

@Seattle in Texas- I’d be happy to really. Is there something in particular you’d like to hear?

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By: Seattle in Texas

Seattle in Texas — Tue, 11 Nov 2008 15:03:54 +0000

and Mordy–aren’t you going to share something too? Just a little something?

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