It's official!

The United States of America has done something that many people never thought it would do... elect an African-American President of the United States.

Now I'm a young guy, born in the early 1970's, who was raised in post-Civil Rights/Integration America. I never saw the "White's Only" signs in Raleigh except in the History Museum. All of my classes have always been integrated and there was never any question about if they should be. Separate but equal has always been morally unacceptable in our world, and that still holds true today no matter which group of Americans you look at.

Yet, growing up in the South and teaching in a rural county in North Carolina, I never believed this would happen. Us 30-somethings like to think of ourselves as "color-blind", but we know we aren't. We are less racist and don't rush to judge based solely on racial stereotypes but they are still there (see Reagan's Welfare Queens or the "articulate candidate"). I see in my students, citizens that define themselves less by race than by other criteria (economics, social status, etc.). There is more acceptance of interracial dating, interracial friendships, and the sharing of common culture.

It looks like North Carolina will barely miss out on the Obama wave, though by the slimmest of margins. If you had told me that this state would be within 30,000 votes of sending its electoral votes for an African-American candidate from the North with the middle name of our greatest enemy, I would have signed you up for a padded room at the local mental hospital.

My children went to vote with us today and helped us bubble in our votes. Later, they got to place their own votes for Senator Obama and left with large "I Voted!" stickers for Kindergarten class. They can tell their children that they helped place a vote for President Obama.

Let's hope that he can handle all of the problems that face the US. More importantly, let's work hard to help him focus on those problems and create solutions that serve all Americans in an utilitarian fashion.


Update: With 95% of the Precincts reporting, Obama is up in NC 50-49 over McCain with just over 4 Million votes cast in the General Election (2.05 million vs 2.03 as of 11:30 in the evening)
Simply amazing... I can't believe it... WE DID IT!!!!!!