We have just entered a new era in American history, by electing a Black man to the highest office in the land. The news and media are full of people who are ecstatic, in churches, people are singing and reporters are reporting. Even people from foreign countries are excited about this. Hell, they are just as excited as most Americans. This recent election has become, no is, a huge deal. Rightly so, this country’s past has been littered with racism and peppered with hatred. Yet for over 100 years society has finally managed to elect a black to the presidency. We are making progress, the dream has been full filled; change has finally come.
That paragraph…started an essay I wrote close to a year ago. A year ago this time, when we were swearing in our first black president Barack Hussein Obama. The country and many of its people were ecstatic. This was going to be the start of something wonderful. A new start…Change had finally come. Well…a year has passed and how much change has actually come? Think about it…how much change has actually come and has it made any real differences in the lives of us Americans? Personally, I don’t think so. At least not on the level that some seemed to have imagined would happen. The economy hasn’t changed. Thousands of Americans are still without employment. The war on terror still rages on. Matter of fact, the president recently Ok’d 30,000 more troops which will soon be deployed in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. For many of us in the military…our lives definitely have not changed. We are still serving in Iraq and Afghanistan for 12 months at a time and many are still doing back to back tours with a break here and there. Our equipment hasn’t changed nor our desire to win this war on terror.
In our society, we seem to live the “fast food” life style. And by that I mean we want it fast, and we want it now. No one seems to want to wait for things to develop and workout. Let’s enact a bill without really looking at how it will work or how it will be funded. The press and sensationalism journalism; that issue…hasn’t changed one bit. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid has fell victim to making a statement that has since come back to haunt him. His comment as he described the then senator as a “light-skinned” African –American “with no Negro dialect, unless he wanted to have one.” The biggest question now is, will he step down. In the past when Republicans have made “insensitive” comments they stepped down or were removed. Yet when Democrats do the same thing, it is minimized or excused. That…surely is a double standard. So as with anything in this society, the major news affiliates are all over this one. Time will tell what will happen to the senator. The ability to make comments towards the President and his office hasn’t change but I’d say those with a voice are a tad bit more “selective” about the words that they choose to use. And that, I surly think is a good thing. All too often comments get made that are just plain ole inappropriate.
Mostly important to me…is that there are still many black men out here doing the right thing; setting strong examples for many young men to follow. As I recently found myself going through a divorce which turned ugly soon after it was initiated, I listened and spoke to many men of different races who have varied experiences either first hand or through a friend with a messy divorce. No matter how bad things have been made for me, I have maintained my integrity and done what is right by my children and their mother even though many feel she doesn’t deserve it. It would be sooo easy to walk and leave her holding the bag. I want my son’s and daughter to see what right looks like. Even when the odds are stacked against you, you can still choose the hard right over the easy wrong. My children don’t like nor understand what and why I am doing things this the way I am. But when they are grown and have families of their own, they will be able to look back and say I’m proud of my father for doing the right thing even though we made it extremely hard for him.
So let’s talk about what has changed. The president is moving forward with his plan for universal heath care. An issue that has our country split right down the middle like the mighty Mississippi river. Some think it will work and is a great idea, some are just the opposite. Those that analyze this love to look to our friends up north…the Canadians and their universal heath care system. Well if it works for them, hell…it’ll work for us. Problem with that mind set is that many don’t understand universal heath care and how and who pays for it. There are an estimated 34 million Canadians in the country of Canada; while there are 270 million Americans. Wow, so there are as many Canadians in their whole country as we have in the state of California. That right there should start the wheels to turning. Our society is one deeply rooted in capitalism. Many medical companies would stand to loose millions if we had universal heath-care. That right there is enough to go to war over.
So has change really come? I think that boils down to personal perception. Personally, I feel the only thing that has changed was the “packaging” that the “change” came in. Politicians are always and will always be…politicians. And that, is something thing will never change. Promises and shallow speeches will probably never change either. But do you know the one constant that will always change? Whether it is for good or bad we the people, the citizens, the voters, fathers, mothers, brothers and lovers…we will always change. And that, at the end of the day...is a good thing.
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