Barack Obama had a Black father and a White Mother. Nonetheless, Obama has always been considered Black. As I was just joking with my colleagues, to the bigots in the world, Obama was a Black candidate. When they woke up in the morning with President-Elect Obama, all of a sudden he was a White president. My colleague, who is an American by way of Jamaica, told me that when the sprinter Ben Johnson was a superstar, he was referred to throughout Canada as the "Canadian, Ben Johnson." As soon as he was busted for steroids he was referred to as the "Jamaican, Ben Johnson."
Here's the thing, race matters. Obama never ran as a Black candidate. Shirley Chisholm, Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton filled that important role in history. Obama ran as a candidate who happened to be Black. He addressed race when he had to (quite eloquently), but his campaign was never about race.
While his campaign was never about race, his victory certainly is. I was joking with my colleagues, both Black. One from the Dominican and the other, as I mentioned, Jamaican. I told them that ever since Obama won, I just want to go up to every Black person I see on the NY subway and hug them or wink at them. I want to express that I know the feeling of pride that they must be feeling. I want them to know that I know we share a little secret between us. The President is Black. I have never been happier about a political outcome in my life, but I know that their happiness just might exceed mine.
I want to hug them because less than 50 years ago, a presidential candidate committed political suicide by publicly supporting Martin Luther King Jr. 50 years later, a Black man is president.
I want to hug them because less than 50 years ago, John Lewis was beaten multiple times simply because he thought Black people should be allowed to vote too. On November 4, 2008, as a member of the United States Congress, John Lewis gave a speech congratulating the first Black president.
I want to hug them because less than 50 years ago, parts of Florida and North Carolina erupted in violent race riots because Black citizens wanted to vote. 50 years later, those states voted a Black man president.
I want to hug them because less than 50 years ago, Blacks had to sit at the back of the bus. Today one sits at the top of the ticket.
And most importantly, I want to hug them because less than 50 years ago, 4 little girls were burned to death because of the color of their skin. 50 years later, 4 little girls, in Birmingham, and around the country, woke up on November 5, 2008, knowing that one day, they too could be president.