I am, of course, ecstatic that we won this election. And I say "we" because, like many Kossacks, I didn't vote for Obama. I voted for the millions of volunteers, demonstrators, and community organizers that enact lasting change from the bottom up, knowing that having one of our own leading the country would encourage more people to take an active role in improving their part of it.
But as Obama said on election night, we haven't made that sweeping change yet - we've only been given the chance to make it. While I do believe we're a center-left nation, we haven't proven that liberal and progressive policies work - we've only gained the opportunity to prove it. In that spirit, today's protest song is an exhortation to keep working for progress and equality, never becoming complacent with the gains we've made: "The Argument" by This Bike Is A Pipe Bomb.
How much further have we gotten did you say?
'Cause 200 years ago we still had slavery and a yellow plague
And 100 years ago we had our boys in the mines while their wives and children were starving
And 40 years ago it took the National Guard to let the black kids in public schools
And you don't think we got it so bad no more,
You don't think we got it bad today
The greatest nation in the world, as you say, has been at war since I can't remember
And miners black lung has been replaced by cancer
It takes everyone away
Well the blacks and whites don't trust each other, you can call it paranoia
Or affirmative action's reverse psychology
That's what it seems like to me
When the bosses found out we won't take it lying down,
They packed up their factories and moved to Mexico,
Took all the jobs to Mexico
And you don't think we got it so bad no more,
You don't think we got it bad today
I'm not trying to bring nobody down,
Just saying our fight ain't over yet
Yeah, today is beautiful
One of the many things that has always baffled me about conservative rhetoric is the implication that the progress we've made so far is plenty; we can go ahead and stop now. The Civil Rights Act ended racism, so anytime something bad happens to black people, it's their own fault. Women got the vote, so you feminists can shut up too. And hell, in Iran they hang gay people, so who cares if all we want to do is downgrade your marriage to a separate but equal institution?
What does give me hope, though, is that every right, every issue relentlessly pushed by progressives is eventually accepted as status quo and retroactively embraced by conservatives as a matter of common sense. Someday, our children and grandchildren will wonder how our government ever got away with treating gay people as second-class citizens, denying the causes and even existence of climate change, or freely equating Islam with terrorism. I have no doubt we'll get there eventually, but the task can't rest solely on Obama's shoulders. It will take a great deal of time and effort, and all of us will have to work at least as hard as the abolitionists and suffragettes, but our fight ain't over yet.