What Obama's Victory Means To My Son


I am the father of a three and a half year old African-American child (who already notices race). I am afraid that words do not even begin to express how important Barak Obama's victory will be to my child. The first President that my son will know will be an African American. That is huge. He will know that he can really aspire to anything.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I'm a long time lurker on your blog and I just wanted to say thanks for having it. I often have my faith questioned by my family because of our very different political views. It's difficult to reconcile the disparity between the hope and optimism I am feeling right now, with the worry and defeat they are feeling, as we both came to these views from what I consider very genuine positions of faith. It's sites like this that help me "keep my religion" so-to-speak. Anyway...just wanted to finally say it. And as a mother of a daughter, I feel the same hope for her also, that she too can actually aspire to anything.
November 5, 2008 at 11:35 AM
Chuck Blanchard said…
Kay:

Thanks for your very kind words!
November 5, 2008 at 4:26 PM
pmc said…
Chuck,

Beautiful. You words (and the last 24 hours) brings tears to my eyes!

Peter+
November 5, 2008 at 6:20 PM
Anonymous said…
I can only imagine the positive effect on minorities throughout our nation. Your son and other children of color deserve, finally, to have this role model.

BTW, great picture.
November 12, 2008 at 12:17 PM
C.T. Manin said…
Yeah...that's wonderful.....I am a white american man married to a dark brown Jamaican women....our children are what you'd call mixed....but then again, we're all mixed......mixed dirt (what God made Adam out of) with God's breath breathed into our nostrils........oh...by the way...the first man, Adam was probaqbly brown!!! Think about it - what color is dirt???...............thank you for this pic!
November 12, 2008 at 2:56 PM
arizona carpet cleaners said…
I understand why Mr. Obama's race would be important to you, just as a hispanic president would inspire hispanics, indian President to Indians. However, I wonder why his extreme pro-abortion stance does not bother you as a person of faith?
November 17, 2008 at 8:06 PM
JenPB said…
I am a 13th-generation American of European descent. My uncle is an African-American born in the 1940s and raised in Oklahoma. He's told me stories that have nearly broken my heart, and certainly opened my eyes.

I was raised by my family to believe anyone could do ANYTHING if they set their mind and soul and body to the task. I believed on the surface, but I think down deep there was doubt - my aunt and uncle certainly expressed THEIR doubt in our country on election-eve. WOULD this country move on? WOULD this country elect the best man for the job, or would THIS country, built on the backs of slaves carry on with business as usual?

Since election night, I've been wanting to ask other non-white people around me how this election has changed their outlook, but I haven't had to. Is it just me, or are African-American people in my community holding their heads a little higher? Do their children, too, finally believe what I was raised to believe?

My girls are only 6 & 8, but we've talked candidly about our country's history. Still, I'm not sure they'll ever understand the significance. They'll grow up in a world where anyone with the skill, the political savvy (and, yes, funding) can serve as president.

What a wonderful world.
March 2, 2009 at 1:03 AM
Anonymous said…
I'm late seeing this but as the mother of my biracial daughter I had the same reaction. I wept into her hair when he accepted the nomination and again when he won the election.
March 3, 2009 at 12:19 PM
Anonymous said…
It would seem to be enough just to celebrate this gift of a new president, but looking into the face of your son, I know that it is only the beginning.

He's gorgeous.
March 26, 2009 at 10:42 PM
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