We Were Taken by Surprise Election Night, watching everybody at Grant Park and at Spelman College, hearing the cheering go up when the Obama win was announced.
We Had Thought All this Time about the Need for America to Defeat Bush.
What We Hadn't Thought About was the significance of an African-American winning the election.
When Jesse Jackson First Appeared in the Crowd On-Screen, he looked stern, angry, and it was easy to imagine him thinking about the unfairness of Obama achieving what he himself had never come close to. But then we realized, as we saw Mr. Jackson pressing down hard on his lips with an index finger, that he was just wrestling with the emotion that was provoking his tears. And then our tears finally began to come as well.
We Have Tried Countless Times over the decades to write about the dysfunctional effect of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This act suddenly took a people—always considered sub-human by their neighbors—and said to them,
How Would Any Person Deal with Such a Thing? If we were such people, we would have wanted to go around and ask every white person we saw,
But the Question Could Not Be Asked, and it must have been subconsciously on the minds of African-Americans always. At least for people old-enough to have experienced that 1964 change.
More Questions:
White America Should Try to Imagine That Sense of Not Knowing. Of not comprehending.
If an Anglo-American Treated an African-American the same as he or she would an Anglo-American, that mode left out the acknowledgment of this pre-1964 legacy. So the African-American couldn't really ask,
Thus, on So Many Televised Faces, Black and White, we saw tears and we saw shocked disbelief. It hit home to countless Americans of all backgrounds, this surprising thing:
When the Ultimate Barrier Fell, at the end, on the evening of November 4, 2008, there was so little to it. It seemed so simple.
The Citizens of the United States of America, Black, Brown, White, Yellow, Red, said by vote that all Americans have the equality of opportunity....
What We Saw on All Those Televised Faces was the sense, not just that African-Americans had achieved equality of opportunity, but that this achievement is finally made public.
The Expected Jubilation at the Defeat of Reactionary Republicanism was overcome by the unexpected awe and wonder at this other, larger thing that we, the united American people, finally achieved.
Well, America Does Finally Have an African-American as President. And it has been unquestionably a non-condescending appointment. And also—last, but definitely not least—the long nightmare of the Bush years, and the longer nightmare of the reactionary Conservative debacle, should soon come to an end, too.
What a Long and Glorious Trip It Has Been!
[For Your Better Understanding of Jesse Jackson's Emotions on the Night of the Obama Election, we recommend that you read a brief biography such as the one found here:
We Had Thought All this Time about the Need for America to Defeat Bush.
What We Hadn't Thought About was the significance of an African-American winning the election.
When Jesse Jackson First Appeared in the Crowd On-Screen, he looked stern, angry, and it was easy to imagine him thinking about the unfairness of Obama achieving what he himself had never come close to. But then we realized, as we saw Mr. Jackson pressing down hard on his lips with an index finger, that he was just wrestling with the emotion that was provoking his tears. And then our tears finally began to come as well.
We Have Tried Countless Times over the decades to write about the dysfunctional effect of the 1964 Civil Rights Act. This act suddenly took a people—always considered sub-human by their neighbors—and said to them,
“Okay. Now you're human. You're one of us. Get over it.”
How Would Any Person Deal with Such a Thing? If we were such people, we would have wanted to go around and ask every white person we saw,
“What happened? What changed? How could a law change the way you think about us?”
But the Question Could Not Be Asked, and it must have been subconsciously on the minds of African-Americans always. At least for people old-enough to have experienced that 1964 change.
More Questions:
“How about you?”
“Were you one of the ones who thought I wasn't fit company yesterday.”
“But now I can drink out of the same water fountain? Please: can you explain?”
White America Should Try to Imagine That Sense of Not Knowing. Of not comprehending.
If an Anglo-American Treated an African-American the same as he or she would an Anglo-American, that mode left out the acknowledgment of this pre-1964 legacy. So the African-American couldn't really ask,
“How about you? Were you one of them?”And the Anglo-American Couldn't Volunteer,
“I just want you to know that I don't think you're any lesser of a person or different species of person than I am.”And Thus the Fact That So Many African-Americans continue to live lives similar to pre-1964 practices, with broken homes and absent fathers, etc.: in light of the post-Civil Rights Act social dysfunction, these legacies of the debacle of slave culture make sense.
Thus, on So Many Televised Faces, Black and White, we saw tears and we saw shocked disbelief. It hit home to countless Americans of all backgrounds, this surprising thing:
When the Ultimate Barrier Fell, at the end, on the evening of November 4, 2008, there was so little to it. It seemed so simple.
The Citizens of the United States of America, Black, Brown, White, Yellow, Red, said by vote that all Americans have the equality of opportunity....
What We Saw on All Those Televised Faces was the sense, not just that African-Americans had achieved equality of opportunity, but that this achievement is finally made public.
The Expected Jubilation at the Defeat of Reactionary Republicanism was overcome by the unexpected awe and wonder at this other, larger thing that we, the united American people, finally achieved.
Well, America Does Finally Have an African-American as President. And it has been unquestionably a non-condescending appointment. And also—last, but definitely not least—the long nightmare of the Bush years, and the longer nightmare of the reactionary Conservative debacle, should soon come to an end, too.
What a Long and Glorious Trip It Has Been!
[For Your Better Understanding of Jesse Jackson's Emotions on the Night of the Obama Election, we recommend that you read a brief biography such as the one found here:
http://www.biography.com/search/article.do?id=9351181
Posts
No comments:
Post a Comment