The Dawn of a New Era

I know you all have been waiting for some promised reviews and a giveaway or two this week, but I’ve been dealing with the ridiculousness that is my water heater. For the past two days, I have awoken to the sound of spraying water and a flooded utility room. Hubby thought it was fixed once, but it didn’t hold and replayed the previous day for me yesterday. So rather than write pretty posts for you all, I’ve been sopping up water and drying out carpet, in hopes of staving off mold and mildew.

The rest of yesterday was a complete wash, but more much better reasons. I was glued to the television, watching a piece of history being made that I honestly never thought I would see happen. The inauguration of President Obama meant so much to this country, as a whole, but had an even deeper meaning for people of color and those who are raising young people of non-Caucasian races.

My children are biracial, as is our new President. However, as the coverage of President Obama has shown, the country considers them to be black. I have no issue there, as that is what people see through their skin color, hair texture and features. We have all grown up in a society where skin color is one of the first things noticed, whether we admit it or not. It was only when I became a parent that I truly saw how sad and dangerous this truly is.

We tell our children that they can be anything they want to be, if they work hard, dream big and apply themselves, but until yesterday that was really only a pretty dream. Until yesterday, we could point out people of varying races in every type of job imaginable, except for President of the United States. They had wonderful role models in every field, but we could only say “Maybe you’ll be first” when they would ask why there were no black presidents for them to model their lives after.

This morning, we woke to a world where someone like my children was waking up in the White House. My children won’t become adults in a world where we are waiting to see a non-Caucasian leading the world’s most powerful country. The hopes and dreams of those who laid down their lives to fight for equality for everyone have been realized. Though there may still be racism and stereotypes to overcome, the foundations that have been laid over the past hundred and fifty years have been built upon to a point where our children and their children truly can be anything that they want to be.

Yesterday was a tearful day for me. I wept tears of joy for the dreams that have been realized and the new hope that has been brought with this new era. I wept tears of sadness for those who had to sacrifice their lives to reach this point and who were not here in body to see this amazing day in our country’s history. I know they were looking down, crying their own tears of happiness and elation that their sacrifices were not in vain.

While the biggest step ever toward true racial equality has been made, the battle is certainly not over. There are still those with warped ideas of racism and bigotry, some who may never have a change of heart. For this reason, I pray for the safety of our President, my children, and all who could potentially be victims of these confused individuals. I pray that President Obama makes the right choices for our country, that will further the cause to unite our people, knocking down barriers of race, religion and political affiliation.

And I rejoice with all the other parents who feel they can now tell their children that they can be anything they want to be and have a solid example to point to.

Thank you, President Obama, for being the first!

Photo credit: sxc.hu (indigo5)