What President Barack Obama Would Mean to Me

As I write this, Barack Obama has a large delegate lead over Hilary Clinton who is also running for the Democratic nomination. It is virtually impossible for Hilary to surpass Obama's delegate count before the Democratic National Convention so it will probably be up to the super delegates to determine if Obama will become the Democratic Party nominee. Even if that happens, he will probably have a hard fight against John McCain in the general election.

However, if Barack Obama does become the 44th President of the United States, it will clearly be a historic event. Selecting an African American man to lead this country will communicate many things about the American people. Some may question if Obama is truly an African American, but a honest inspection of his features shows any rational person that his genetic heritage has much in common with blood that flows in the veins of the descendants of African slaves. As a man whose bloodline also strongly links me to the survivors of the Middle Passage and the rigors of slavery, his ascension to the White House would tell me a lot about America's past, present, and future.

An understanding of the significance of Barack Obama's Presidency must be rooted in an understanding of the history of African Americans in the United States. The bulk of this history involves slavery. Although present before the 18th century, it was in the 1700's that enslavement of black people became widespread and codified in the laws of the land. Due to the need for labor intensive work such as harvesting tobacco and cotton, slavery spread widely in the Southern states causing blacks to become a third of the population by the late 1800's. Slave codes gave masters a legal right to brutalize their slaves and treat them as they were defined by law: property. The United States Constitution counted slaves as 3/5th's of the population for the purpose of allocating seats in the House of Representatives to Southern States which gave those States a disproportionate amount of power in Congress. The harsh life of slaves caused many to oppose it, and this rift soon led to division including violent uprisings by Nat Turner, John Brown, and others. The Dred Scott decision by the United States Supreme Court in 1857 and the election of Abraham Lincoln in 1860 along with other national events led to the start of the Civil War in 1861.

The American Civil War led to the Emancipation Proclamation in 1863 and eventually to the ratification of the 13th Amendment of the United State Constitution in 1865 which formally ended slavery in America freeing approximately 4 million black slaves. The ratification of the 14th Amendment in 1868 and the 15th Amendment in 1870 granted former slaves citizenship and the right to vote, respectively. This significant improvement in the legal standing of freed blacks was hindered by the realities of widespread illiteracy among the black population, segregationist Jim Crow laws, and often violent harassment by groups such as the Klu Klux Klan. Decades of of institutional racism against African Americans passed until the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the National Voting Rights Act of 1965 helped to undo the legal framework that had historically denied African Americans equal access under the law.

Against this historical tapestry comes Barack Obama, a man who, if born in the America of the 17th or 18th century would probably be able to work as a house slave based on his light skin tone. However, a house slave was still a slave denied the essential freedoms upon which this country was founded. If he had been born in the late 19th or early 20th Century, he would be able to enjoy the free life that people of African descent were able to finally universally obtain. However, running for President of the United States would have been an exercise in foolishness and futility.

Obama's strong campaign shows that America is a country that may now be ready to close the doors of discrimination and open the doors of the White House to an African American man. Elevating a member of a group of people whose ancestors were once considered inhuman property to the highest office of the land would allow the United States to finally act in accordance with the principle that all people are created equal.

The election of President Barack Obama would demonstrate that this country can let go of the paradigms of the past and embrace a new future where everyone can fully participate in improving America regardless of any physical characteristic. Those who bring fresh ideas and are willing to work to bring them to life will have the opportunity to do so. As we continue to write the early history of the 21st Century, his Presidency will allow the creation of a bright future by a country in a truly united state.

I am not naive enough to believe that the United States will transform into a Utopia if Barack Obama wins the White House. He will face difficult times, and there are many challenges facing this country. However, I believe that Obama is the person who can uniquely motivate American citizens to work collectively to solve our national problems. After all, the very existence of a President Barack Obama would mean that anything is possible if one is willing to, against all hope, believe in hope and achieve a dream.