That's a huge swing in opinion. LOL!

I couldn't be happier but I do have to laugh a little - I know very well that there were many who thought right up to the time it was announced that white Americans just wouldn't do it - I heard it said enough.

So I get a bit of a kick out of this - I've said it before, but it's the like the mirror image of the end of NWA's 100 Miles and Running - "Surprise!"

heh! God I like liking us.

Hope awakening does this all of the time....

Well I don't understand why, but Obama was rejected when he applied to be in a pin-up calendar during his Harvard days (and 49 other facts the public may not already know):

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/newstopics/uselection2008/barackobama/3401168/Barack-Obama-The-50-facts-you-might-not-know.html

Not to put a damper on the symbolic power of Obama's victory, but I was pretty sobered to see white voters still broke down heavily for McCain, 55% to 43%. On the other hand, that's virtually the same as Kerry in '04 and Gore in '00. The difference was minorities making their voices heard and being represented.

For the first time, they are proud of their country.

I would say everyone has a right to be proud right now. We chose hope and reason over fear and ignorance. This election was about much more than race. We already know that this will improve race relations, but it certainly won't solve all our racial problems. And I'm not sure it means that affirmative action is not needed anymore. Perhaps it merely suggests that it works.

For anyone who hasn't yet, I highly recommend reading Obama's Dreams from My Father. The entire book is a both a meditation on these themes -- what is racial identity, how does it shape our view of society, how does that view shape the choices we make -- as well as a memoir of Obama's personal life (which I found to be quite honest since it was written in 1994, before he entered politics).

But to return to the issue at hand, does this mean racism is over? Of course not. But is it a step in the right direction. Absolutely. Just look at the poll, the numbers speak for themselves.

On election night, after Pennsylvania was called for Obama, I phoned a friend of mine and asked him if he wanted to go out for a celebratory beer. He said, "Are you kidding? This thing is far from over." I just laughed. Then I said, "Well, it IS over, but OK, call me back when Ohio is in, if it makes you feel better." So he called me back when Ohio was in and said, "Let's go get that beer."

We went down to the local watering hole, and the place was FULL of people. It's kind of a sports bar, where they serve pizza and buffalo wings and shit like that. As usual, it was full of rowdy jocks and representatives of the local hipoisie. Anyway, when Obama finally came on to give his acceptance speech, the bar went dead silent. It was really quite a moment. I looked up and down the bar while Obama was speaking, and there wasn't a dry eye in the house. When Obama finished, the place went wild. I got drunk as hell and went home.

So Thursday night, I met a few of my friends at the same bar, and HOLY SHIT--the place was full of African-Americans. Just packed with black people. I've never seen anything like it in this particular bar before. And they were talking and they were happy and they were striking up conversations with everyone and EVERYTHING HAS CHANGED. It's like a nightmare is over. The fever broke. And goddamnit, am I ever happy to be alive and for the first time in my adult life, I'm truly proud to be an American.

I wasn't sure whites would vote for a black man but they did, in record numbers. I was also glad to hear that the blacks turned out in numbers, standing in lines for 2 - 3 hours. And the young people turned out. Actually, 62,450,831 turned out to vote for Obama.
As far as I'm concerned the electorate reflected the choice of the people more this time than it did for Al Gore, who won the popular vote and lost by only a few hundred votes that would've been reversed with a recount.
People got involved in the whole process. Obama's campaign was financed by small donations from millions of people. Volunteers were everywhere working for the cause. People were making phone calls from their homes into key states. People were writing commentaries to clarify the McCain/Palin accusations that were untrue and raising fear among undecideds. We all did our part and definitely participated in a true democratic process. We succeeded in change by working together. My spirits are therefore hightened from all of this and I have a new belief in people. We can do it. I just hope people continue to be involved in what happens next.

Maybe this is the first step in eliminating terms such as "African American", "Asian American", Hispanic American" etc, and just start referring to ourselves as American. I'm envious of people who have a defined ethnic/racial heritage (my ancestors came over here in the 1620s and helped establish Rehoboth MA--Obama thinks HE's a mutt? HA!) but it's time to transcend the labels, with the possible exception of "Native American".

White people have been nicer to me....

Just being honest.