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Election An Educator For All

Despite of all the excitement that is being displayed worldwide in light of Barack Obama being elected president, there are still individuals who are bitter and making it evident that racism still exists in our country.

As a user of Facebook, I've read many other users' distasteful remarks about Barack Obama and their reluctance to acknowledge a milestone in not just black history but the history of the world. Freedom of speech is and will always be a right to Americans; however, some of the comments I viewed on Facebook went past freedom of speech and stepped into the area of racism.

Just like misery, ignorance loves company. The comments made by these individuals were hurtful towards not only African-Americans but the entire country. One individual made remarks regarding a long gone stereotype of Blacks saying he was,"Drinkin Malt Liquor, quitting his job tomorrow, applying for welfare and now officially supports Obama! Yes We Can." A female was quoted as saying "They only voted for him because he was black" and another person expressed remarks saying "All the hunters gather up, we have a n*gger in the White House." This last comment was made by a college football player with the Texas Longhorns and was dismissed from the team, and rightfully so, immediately after the team officials were informed of his comments.

So the million dollar question is what have we learned from this election? Of course African-Americans have come a long way from being enslaved, limited to certain areas, and stereotyped as lazy and ignorant but what have we actually all learned from this election. Although Blacks are still belittled and labeled as a minority, this election has educated many African-Americans as well as other races on the politics in America. We have all learned whether black, white, Asian, or Latino about the politics in America and we also have realized that unfortunately, racism still exists in our country. America has broken through many barriers dealing with terrorism, racism, economy, and technology over the years but our country will never be perfect. This doesn't mean strives towards perfection should not be made because progression will make life easier for Americans but my point is that racism will always exist. It will subside over time, but will always be evident.

As a first time voter, and friend of many first time voters, I realized the appeal that Obama has to encourage young and old to become knowledgeable of the politics in America. Being completely honest, his appeal to many may be that he is an African-American but let's not take away the facts that he is a highly qualified and intelligent choice for our countries highest position which is much more than I can say for his predecessors. I am much more knowledgeable of the politics in this country and foreign policy as a result of this election and my colleagues share the same sentiment. Even if people voted for him solely based on the fact that he's black, Americans dug deeper and educated themselves on many of the issues that might have otherwise been ignored.

More than ever before, I am proud to be an African-American male. There is a sense of pride amongst all African-Americans as a result of President Obama's success and we as Americans have broken down yet another barrier in our country. To all those parents who express to their children on a daily basis that the sky is the limit and they can be whatever they aspire to be, you can use an example from now on. This rags to riches story is not a fairy tale but a reality, even thought it produced the ultimate fairy tale ending with a black man being named President Obama.