A few people have written me, expressing disbelief that our country, with its history of racism, could actually elect a black president. Pointing out polls that indicate, yes, clearly we can, and in fact, chances seem pretty good doesn't seem to do the trick. Or pointing out that Obama won in Iowa, a state that is 97% white. Or that he got as large a share of the white male vote in SOUTH CAROLINA as Hilary Clinton in his win there(she beat him in white females).
An Op-Ed in the Washington Post discusses this questions as well:
The idealism of young people should not be underrated. They have a lot to teach us cynics, and they give us plenty of reason to hope. "Hope" for them is not a political prop; they seem to be plumbing its deeper meaning. For them in particular, Obama seems to have made hope cool and exquisitely tangible. That's why, instead of "Race doesn't matter," they should adopt "Hope matters" as their mantra. It implies a collective wish for a turning point in this country, a time when we resolve to accept, not pretend to erase, our inherent racial biases and look beyond them to find each other's humanity.
Maybe now is that time.
We can only hope.
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