What Is Happening Here?

If you were a white male child growing up in America within the last 50 years or at anytime in the history of the United States, your father and/or mother probably told you to study hard, get good grades in school, work hard, and you could one day grow up to be president of the United States. I doubt that any black parent ever told their child that because, come on... this is America after all, and that kind of dreaming just wasn't productive UNTIL NOW.

Jessie Jackson ran for president when I was 26 years old and I voted for him knowing that this vote was more symbolic than real. In the back of my mind, I knew he didn't stand a chance of actually winning but, I wanted to make a statement. The statement being, that black votes are here and they are important. Jessie actually won two or three primaries but, in the end, he was not the Democratic nominee (to nobody's surprise).

When Barack Obama and Hillary Clinton began, I must admit that I thought John Edwards would be the eventual front runner. When Obama won a few primaries, I still was not convinced. I'm sure that I, like most African Americans of my generation, did not believe that America would ever get past race... and we still may not... he hasn't won yet. Then, a funny thing happened... Obama won 10 straight primaries and won in places where he could not have been supported by a majority black vote. (i.e. Hawaii ???)

I know that a lot of young blacks (and whites) are voting for the first time and looking past race but, a lot of older whites must be voting too or he wouldn't be winning in a lot of these states. In the past few days, I have often wondered aloud, "What is happening here?" Is it because Obama is "bi-racial?" or could it be that people are just tired... so tired of what we've been doing before that they are willing to try anything different... even a woman... even a black man!!! Now, little boys and yes, even girls, of all races can truly reach for the stars and one day become president of the United States of America.

H-m-m-m... "What is happening here?"