Sometimes A Burden Goes Undetected...Until It's Removed
The Wizard of Oz is one of my favorite movies. It is filled with many transformations. One of the most memorable ones is the scene where the house falls on the wicked witch of the west. The black and white movie transformed into color and instantly everything became brighter. That's the feeling I got when Barack Obama was declared President-Elect. Instantly everything became brighter. And when Barack spoke to the people, tears flowed like the Nile River.
They were tears of joy and tears of disbelief. Like most Black people in America and apparently a lot of White people too, I never thought that in my lifetime, I would see a Black man elected President of the United States. I know that the country talks a good game when it comes to equal rights, but on this night, actions spoke louder than words. I felt a burden lifted from my shoulders that quite frankly I didn't know existed. Something magical had happened. It was a transformational moment.
It was as if for the first time in the history of the America, Black people had been granted full citizenship. The reality was overwhelming. Jesse Jackson cried. Colin Powell cried. Condoleezza Rice cried. Even Barack Obama's Fox News nemesis, Juan Williams, cried. All accomplished Americans, they too were overcome by emotions that refused to wait for a private moment. And it wasn't just Black people that experienced that Twilight Zone feeling. I saw that same look of disbelief in the faces of White Americans as well. And they also were not immune to emotional release. Robert Colbert on Comedy Central cried and White commentators interviewing crying Black people, cried as well.
Barack Obama had said that now was our time for change. He had inspired us with his words and now been chosen to lead us. And John McCain was so gracious in defeat. Even though Obama was not the unanimous choice of White Americans, it doesn't matter. No longer can it be said that America will not elect a Black person as president. Black Americans now look at White Americans differently and there is absolutely nothing that they can do about it. There is a feeling of greater trust. And the so-called great divide between Black and Hispanic Americans is now formally declared a myth. A transformational event has taken place and a burden that many of us didn't realize existed, has been lifted.
O my god - really? O thank you. This was my greatest hope for this.
You have no idea - it's hard to know you aren't trusted no matter what you do - this means so much. You either look like an idiot trying to prove you don't feel that way or you blow it off If we could really meet on some ground that doesn't have distrust right there between us to start with - o Bussta. thank you.
November 7, 2008 9:47 AM | Reply | Permalink
Me too! You mean, I'm not automatically shoved into the pigeon hole of bigot??? Oh, hooray! I so need to know that! I hope it continues. I hope we can look each other in the eye with love, knowing we're in this together. That's what I've wanted - and actually began to see in the early 60's - but somehow it trickled away. That's a joy to hear. You have no idea what it has meant to feel that minorities looked at my blue eyes and white skin as if I had some kind of plague that could harm them. On both sides there has been misunderstanding. And it's very hard to change that if you fear your efforts to reach out will be met with hostility - not because of you personally, but simply because you're part of a "group." Or feared to be part of that group.
I've honestly noted shock on the part of some black people that a white person could be so moved by Obama, a black man, as if they did not understand that I too have been living under a dark cloud for decades. How good it feels to be out in the sunshine with all my brothers and sisters, black, white, straight, gay, no matter the language, the culture, the religion, the sexual orientation.
It's very important to realize that oppressing any group oppresses all of us - that it divides us and takes away not only our dignity but our individuality, as if we only have social meaning as an oppressor or a victim. Racial disharmony has oppressed all of us. And may it pass. May it pass for good.
Glory Hallelujah!!!
November 7, 2008 12:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
O witness, Sister!
Bussta, this post made me happier than anything else that has happened since they called Penn on Tuesday night and I knew we'd won.
You have no idea - I live in Dallas - that's the south. I've lived my whole life with this distrust dynamic - it is soul-killing for both of us - believe me - it kills our souls too!
please let me in. I really mean that - I don't want to hurt anyone.
November 7, 2008 1:08 PM | Reply | Permalink
Yes, I'm with you, my dear. I want in too!
Milwaukee is about the most bigoted city in the country, bar none, that I've lived in. Lots of segregated neighborhoods here. That's one of the reasons I love my volunteering at the medical center nearby. It's a med school and the poor frequent that hospital. The care is excellent. We use it too. I love it when I can reach out to people regardless of their color or background or beliefs. It give me a chance to affirm people.
November 7, 2008 1:23 PM | Reply | Permalink
Great blog.
I find that the transformational moment was really made possible by who Barack Obama is and in the campaign he ran. He exhorted us every step of the way that we are one nation and can choose a different path than the one we have walked these last 40 years.
His election proved his profound faith in all of us, conservative and liberal.
My wife's friend voted for McCain and offered an oddly optimistic view of the election results: "I supported McCain because of abortion and I am comfortable with that decision, but I am very happy Obama won. I am hopeful that he can actually change our country for the better."
The only thing that can get in the way of a continued American Renaissance is us. Electing Barack was the first step. Now that the bar has been raised, it is on all of us to continue enforcing this new standard.
November 7, 2008 11:06 AM | Reply | Permalink
Jason, I couldn't agree more.
November 7, 2008 12:03 PM | Reply | Permalink
O word up! We can't sit here and say: Ok, President Obama - do it all for us.
We have miles and miles and miles to go - but this was one giant step that I thank the universe I lived to see.
November 7, 2008 11:18 AM | Reply | Permalink
Let me add - we particularly have miles to go to get this country to recognize that gays and lesbians are full citizens of this country and that Equal Protection means that they have exactly the same rights to form legal marriages just like heterosexuals.
I hear the disappointment, the rage, the hurt and it hurts me - it isn't right.
November 7, 2008 11:22 AM | Reply | Permalink
Tena, I also needed to add that I now have a better understanding of women's passion to elect a woman as President because I am not a member of that club.
As great as the moment was, the election of Barack is only a start, but it's a great start. And the changes that need to occur are too great for any one person to achieve. I believe that Barack is the leader that we need for now, but he can't make positive things happen alone. That's where we come in. What's that Barack rally cry...Fired up, ready to go!
November 7, 2008 11:48 AM | Reply | Permalink
Before our day of canvassing on Sunday, my wife and I attended the rally in Columbus, OH. I thought I detected an entirely new "dynamic" in the crowd: The people of color carried themselves differently, we looked at each other differently. For nearly the first time in my life, peoples' body language appeared to me to express that everyone there was simply more comfortable in this mixed setting.
I was elated by that observation, and hopeful that I wasn't just making it up.
I've always felt completely powerless as an individual white person, to change that relationship, despite it being a goal my entire adult lifetime. I believe that starting now, we can take the next steps toward dropping that weight.
November 7, 2008 12:10 PM | Reply | Permalink
It's true. If we went to an Obama rally, we knew, everyone knew, we were all in this together. When Michelle spoke here a few weeks ago, I parked my car and saw a black lady park her car. We were about the same age and I figured we were heading to the same place. I walked up to her, put my arm around her and said: "I'm going to be your instant friend!" Let's walk together. We stayed together the whole time. Even got picked to sit behind Michelle, stood together to shake her hand, and my instant friend got a hug from Michelle as well, which she gave back to me. I'll probably never see her again, but I'll also never forget that we could connect like that - because of Barack Obama, because of Michell.
I am tearful about this, because for me it's not just a government thing. It's a society coming together. Anyone who's missing out on this, what a shame. But come on over folks, try it on. The more of us, the better. Let down your guard and open your heart. Let yourself believe and hope and work for the best we can be as Americans. That's all it takes.
November 7, 2008 1:05 PM | Reply | Permalink
I feel terribly sorry for anyone who will not get this wave and join in. I am not mad at them, I feel sorry for them.
I've waited a lifetime for this - I never expect to see a finer moment for this country and I feel so sorry for anyone who cannot let themselves become part of it.
November 7, 2008 1:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Lenski, I volunteered in the Obama campaign also and it was truly a group effort that included a wide spectrum of Americans. I think that silence we hear is the sound of Americans feeling humbled by other Americans.
November 7, 2008 12:18 PM | Reply | Permalink
Correction: In my post I referred to Robert Colbert (ironically who starred in the old Time Tunnel series and also Maverick), it should have read Stephen Colbert.
November 7, 2008 12:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
I knew who you meant.
You have no idea how happy you've made me. I'm utterly weak because there's a barrier inside of white people, too, who know we aren't trusted and know there are good reasons for that. It hurts - it kills my soul. It has killed me my whole life to know that no matter what I do or say, African Americans would not necessarily believe me or believe I didn't have a hidden motive. It's partly generational I imagine.
all I want is to be allowed in - you can come in any time. You have my soul already. You have my heart. You have my good will and I have no hidden motives. I just want you to come in and I want you let me in.
Not that I expect that all of a sudden. [rueful smile]
November 7, 2008 1:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
I'm going to be honest about something. In the Fall of '67, after there'd been riots as I recall that summer, we were grad students on the edge of a black community. We used to shop there - and had to tell one Jewish guy who owned a pharmacy, that - no - we would not allow him to serve us first, we'd take our place in line behind the black folks were there already. We felt badly that many poor people seemed to only have money to buy the smallest sizes of things - and therefore were paying more for items. We went to see a movie in a black theater. And there occurred the scariest event I've ever experienced. We were sitting there watching the movie, when suddenly, from behind us a group of young black males began to throw popcorn at us and shout "Black Power!"
We slowly got up and we began to leave. They followed us. I truly thought I was facing death. At that moment, I did not feel anything but fear and a calm certainty that, ok, I'm gonna die, but they don't know they'll be killing innocent people, who never wished them any harm. I'm not sure what happened or didn't happen. But something held them back. Maybe they felt it was enough they'd driven us away. That was in Philadelphia. We felt we had to move. I lived in fear that some black person would go berserk and kill me. I never, ever, felt it would happen otherwise, not unless someone was crazy. I didn't blame anyone. I could totally understand the anger. But I was powerless, powerless to change the social forces arrayed against me and against the black community. Very, very sad. Dark forces were gathering. Not so many months later MLK was murdered. And RFK that summer. How sad... they killed men and they killed a movement. All because of hatred.
I always wanted things to turn around. I've never, ever felt that same fear that I felt that afternoon and for a while after that.
I hope it's clear that I was not angry toward those young black men. They were teenagers, doing what teenagers do. And they were expressing their rage and their desire to evict white people from what they viewed as their territory. But it scared me. On the other hand, I knew I could face death. Without hatred. That was a good feeling in one way. But it left me with a sense of having no control. When groups are separated by the bigotry and fear - then it becomes so difficult for anyone to feel safe - on either side.
Thank God for this new day. May it last. Let us all be free! Free at last.
Thank you for this post. And being able to talk about this. Four years before that Fall, I had started college in DC. Right after MLK gave his speech. There was a lot of hope then. Many chances to meet with groups of people, in the city, black and white, and discuss civil rights, our longing to come together.
November 7, 2008 1:48 PM | Reply | Permalink
I certainly co-sign this. It isn't easy - I hope it gets easier.
November 7, 2008 2:47 PM | Reply | Permalink
The revolution will not be televised.
I guess it might be online. Thanks for this post.
November 7, 2008 3:57 PM | Reply | Permalink
Sorry but I still don't trust whitey. :)
November 7, 2008 3:58 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
November 7, 2008 4:11 PM | Reply | Permalink
LOL!
One of my biggest disappointments was that you abandoned the regular election central threads.
I always did trust you - ha ha! [/Nelson]
November 7, 2008 4:43 PM | Reply | Permalink
Bussta, Thank you for the great post. I have been trying to understand my feeling of almost numbness and you are right it is that stunned feeling of a burden being lifted. I had only considered the burden from a white persons point of view - the guilt.
While I agree that a lot of the burden was a racial one I must say I think it is also the burden of the Bush years. Eight years of lying, sneaking, cheating, torturing, killing by our government and then on top of that, the economic crash. All of America knew this administration could not and would not be able to do any thing about the latest crisis. We saw in Obama's campaign a honest and INTELLIGENT man. Not only did he tell us there would be change, he showed us change in his campaign. I think a lot of the tears were tears of relief that there was hope at last - we now have a leader that will HELP US to get back to the America we can be proud of.
November 7, 2008 5:29 PM | Reply | Permalink
The burden is the pain of dehumanization, the lifting of the burden is the ecstasy of humanization. In choosing humanization, we are again a trascendental nation, in harmony with our best American ideals. Everyone understands this: it is why a person could vote for McCain, and yet be glad that Obama won. The world will again look to us for this reason.It is the best of the Democratic Party; a reference point for all of us, and as we go forward we may fall short at times, but now at least we know what we are falling short of.
November 7, 2008 7:14 PM | Reply | Permalink
That's very well said.
Growing is painful - it requires vulnerability - if you don't let down defenses, you cannot let new experience and new knowledge in.
November 7, 2008 7:20 PM | Reply | Permalink
Amen.
November 7, 2008 7:37 PM | Reply | Permalink
Everyone, I'm glad that my post helped. I like everybody and I didn't feel that White people needed any special vindication, but it made me feel good to know that most Americans could cast aside historical prejudices and vote for the person that I thought really would put country first. It was an unexpected good feeling.
November 7, 2008 10:08 PM | Reply | Permalink