"Many who live in countries where the idea of a minority being elected leader is unthinkable expressed amazement and satisfaction that the United States could overcome centuries of racial strife and elect an African-American — and one with Hussein as a middle name — as president.
"What an inspiration. He is the first truly global U.S. president the world has ever had," said Pracha Kanjananont, a 29-year-old Thai sitting at a Starbuck's in Bangkok. "He had an Asian childhood, African parentage and has a Middle Eastern name. He is a truly global president."
More from around the world, here and here.
Time Magazine: The World's View of Obama's Win.
And commentary I wholeheartedly agree with, here:
"This Election Day, Americans as a whole did something they have seldom done: They challenged themselves to strive towards the greatness they have often pretended at, to look beyond the comfort of indolent complacency and the paralysis of fear. Americans stood up and made a single, profound choice that few ever imagined that we would make within our lifetimes: We elected an African-American man as our leader.
It is difficult to overstate the significance of this gesture, particularly considering what the words “black man” have historically meant: In the pre-Civil War era, the synonym was “slave;” in the reconstruction era, an object of contempt or ridicule; for the bulk of the 20th Century, second-class citizen; to the electorate of 1988, a social menace (see: Willie Horton). But to the America of 2008, these words have come to also mean “President-Elect.”
With the elevation of Barack Obama to its highest elected office, the American public has issued a final, unmistakable refutation of centuries’ worth of institutionalized prejudice and fear, expressly acknowledging for the first time that the members of this nation’s minority communities truly are full, equal partners in the American adventure, and fully vested stakeholders in this nation’s cultural, political and economic life. Even more significantly, the American public has ensconced a member of one of these minority communities as the very steward of its future."
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1 comment:
As a black woman in the US, I never thought in my life I'd see the day.
This by no means suggests that racism is over. Instead it means that people are going to have to stop using that as an excuse for their failure to try.
Ramona
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