One of my closest friends here in DC grew up through desegregation. Her grandmother was born into slavery. And today she's damn proud to be able to say to her grandson "Yes, Eric, you really can grow up to be the President."
This morning she asked me . . . (the rest below the fold)
This morning she aske me to
please blog an excessive "THANK YOU" to all of those 18-40 year-olds who pulled this election off. Your generation should proudly take credit for accepting that it was a mistake and finally correcting it. The Good Ole’ Boy network is some kind of pissed right now but they can’t be pissed at black people – they anticipated that excessive turnout. They can’t be pissed at the Hispanic/Mexicans – they brought all of them here so they could pay lower wages. They can’t be pissed at the blue collar workers – that would be like being mad at themselves. They can’t be pissed at the "college educated" – they are the ones who put them in the position to finally understand what being black is about – getting a college education that you’ll spend the next 15 years paying for with a job that’s not even in your field and ending up with credit so bad NO ONE will give you any.
Its sad that the younger generation had to feel that pain (we wouldn’t wish it on anyone), but it was the only way for you to understand. The Wall Street fiasco is just divine intervention to show the "5 percenters" what "poor" feels like so they will understand. This thing is so "GINORMOUS" – I don’t think the kids that did this actually realized how big.
As I said to a Barack supporter who was still passing out sample ballots at 3:30-4:00 on Tuesday, thank you – thank all of you, because this would not be possible without you. To which she replied, "and if they try to steal this one . . ."
And she's not the only one. In the past 24 hours black mothers have high-fived and fist-bumped me and told me how happy they are to be able to proudly tell their children that they can grow up to be President. A black attorney told me that he finally feels like his career has not boundaries.
The shoulders of my suit jackets and shirts are stained with tears of joy from all the hugs I've been giving and receiving.
We are all truly Americans for the first time. We have realized the hope and aspirations of the Constitution--not the racism of the 3/5ths compromise that was written into our DNA through a perverse compromise--but the aspiration to be a nation in which "All Men are Created Equal." We are one step closer to perfecting our union.
And for all that, DC says thank you.