Very rarely do I tear up over anything...I did tonight. I can say that I was able to see Senator Barack Obama become the President-Elect of the United States of America. To be honest, I knew this day would come in my lifetime, but I'm happy to see that it happened so soon. Tonight has been an exclamation point on a pretty amazing day.
Earlier today I was walking from one of the parking structures at Portland State, and I saw one of the daycare workers walking with four children around my niece's age. There was a little white boy and girl, and the other two were black twin girls. I was amazed when I saw the little white girl grab and hold onto one of the black girls' hand as they walked...like it was natural for her to do that. It was an instinct. This little girl did not pull her hand away because she was reaching for a hand that was not like hers. She just took it and held it. I was surprised and hopeful, especially on a day like today.
I walked a few more feet thinking about what I just witnessed, and I realized that I shouldn't have been so surprised. One of my earliest memories is playing with a little black boy in the schoolyard of my daycare center. I didn't realize that he was different than me until years later when society told me that he was. I remember having white friends, and Hispanic friends, and black friends growing up, and not giving it a second thought. My generation is fortunate because I bet thousands of my peers have similar experiences. We were brought up in a more tolerant age, and while it may not be as accepting as we'd hope, it is still light years ahead of where we've been. Tonight is proof of that.
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