I voted early today in Columbus, Ohio, and I saw the real America: Hundreds of people waiting patiently--even joyfully--in line to exercise the right to choose their own political future. We voted at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium, so we cast our votes in the shadow of those who fought and died to preserve our right. And we voted proudly in the presence of our children, the toddlers and teenagers who stood patiently with their parents.
Some of us were suburban voters: We could easily have waited until election day to cast votes. We live in those privileged districts where there are plenty of voting machines and no one ever challenges our identity. But some of us couldn't wait to vote for change, or we plan to spend election day working to get out the vote, so we drove downtown on a Saturday to vote. I wasn't the only voter from my neighborhood in line--I recognized one of my neighbors a few bends ahead of me.
The people in line represented the real America I know: voters of all races, ages, religions, and physical abilities. During my hour in line, I saw more than a dozen women in traditional Muslim dress. Another woman held a book of Christian faith, while the couple behind me discussed their upcoming "atheist" wedding (their words). Several voters were in wheelchairs. The 20-something voters ahead of me literally jumped for joy and hugged when they reached the front of the line.
This is a game day in Columbus--the Ohio State Buckeyes take on Penn State at home this evening--so many of us wore OSU gear. I admired a toddler in a stroller who was sporting a Buckeye bib and hat. His grandmother proudly told me that the boy had been born at Ohio State University and that his mother (also standing in line) was an OSU grad. Unremarkable--except that the family (like so many others in line) was black. During the 1960s, when Martin Luther King announced his dream, how many black infants were born in university hospitals, to college educated mothers? And how many had the chance to wear college bibs and hats from birth?
King's dream is unfolding this year, not just at the top of the ballot, but among the infants waiting in line with their parents. America faces many challenges today, but I saw a lot of hope waiting in line in Columbus. Our hope, our diversity, our commitment to peaceful change through the ballot--that's the real America I know.