Parlor Spider...Step In, Little Fly

Insightful thoughts and/or rants from atop the soapbox from one who wishes to share the "right" opinion with everyone.

Tuesday, January 20, 2009

It's Barely Begun...But It Has Begun

The first Russian in space when we had not yet gone past the range of airplanes...The Beatles landing in America...The Korean War...Freedom Marches in the South... the KKK...JFK's assassination...Viet Nam...Neil Armstrong setting foot on the moon...9/11...and now this: an African-American president. I've seen all of this and more: each has left an indelible mark on me and my cohort, and I hope the younger generations see these events as more than snippets of history.
I grew up in Kansas, not the Deep South, but not the upper Midwest, either. African-American families lived in my community, their kids went to school with us, and we played sports together. It wasn't until much later that I realized that most of them lived together in neighborhoods populated by few, if any, white families. I remember recognizing that the letter "A" in the A.M.E. on the church sign actually stood for "African." I was probably just too young to recognize differences. I'm older now, and I still don't recognize differences. I feel the distinction between myself and the urban kids I deal with more as an age thing than a race thing, but it is obvious that today is a day worth celebrating for all of us.
I know there will be people who complain that the focus has been too much on race, but I'll guarantee that their parents and grandparents didn't have to drink out of separate water fountains (bubblers, for Wisconsites), eat in different restaurants, and sit in specified places on public transportation. I'm often told that I cannot imagine what it was like, and I can agree to some extent. Even though I thought my family was really poor while growing up, I had it all...and didn't realize it...I had freedom many did not enjoy.
Maybe now we can all share the hope for freedom in all aspects.
Amen!
Now, let's all get together and make this country great again.

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