Well, here I am, a white Canadian in Mexico watching with pride the Inauguration of Barack Obama, the 44th President Of The United States. What gives? Well, everything the USA does affects every one of us on the planet and it was a great pleasure to watch the USA rejoin the Twenty-First Century. You missed eight years of it folks but welcome back, it is time to catch up!
We had the pleasure of sharing this historic occasion with our American neighbours here in the park. Tears were shed (by me anyway) when Obama gave his speech and Bush was wished a speedy exit with the advice to not let the door smack him in the a$$ on his way out.
Can Obama produce the change he promised? He is in a better position than many in the past. He is young, energetic and has the support of more than 80% of Americans so he has a chance. He is the guy who wants the ball with three seconds left in the game and his team down by two points. Like they say, “He’s got game”!
The sad part of the day of course is thinking about the people who were not there to see it: Dr. King, JFK, RFK, Lyndon Johnson, Malcolm X among many others. Missing also were the brave people who dared sit in the front of the bus or at the Zellers lunch counter, the fearless children who braved jeering mobs to walk into their schools and the heroes who marched into the police dogs, billy clubs and fire hoses in Alabama for this is their day too! Now, instead of two paths into the future, these paths are merging into one. The Country is one step closer to fulfilling it’s Constitutional promise of equality for all, but there is so far yet to go.
But for now, you may ask, what has changed? Everything! Everything has changed.
Croft, like you, I cried today while watching the inauguration in a little Mexican restaurant with a dozen or so American expats, a couple of Italians and a Mexican friend. Today I purposely wore red, white and blue and stood up to sing our national anthem at the end. I have not felt this patriotic ever before in my life. Today I was proud to be an American and I had been ashamed for so long that I can't remember feeling this way.
ReplyDeleteKathe in Calderitas, QRoo, Mexico
I too, shed some tears watching. It was amazing to see it finally come to pass, and for that, I'm grateful.
ReplyDeleteThe new Whitehouse website is here: http://www.whitehouse.gov/ and you can download the inaguration speech for posterity in HQ mpeg.4 video.
The civil rights battle has simply entered another phase. The slam against the Gay/Lesbian population on Election Day must be addressed quickly. We have to sit back and savor the win and get back to work.
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