I found this map, which has been making the rounds, rather striking. It shows where the country shifted more republican relative to 2004:

http://www.dailykos.com/images/user/28416/map2.jpg

Here's why I find it striking. Compare that map with this one:

http://i35.tinypic.com/1o6d5f.jpg
(original source: http://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2006/jan/05_0055.htm)

The second map depicts what those familiar with the South often refer to as the "black belt", which is (unsurprisingly) bluer in the first map. But then what the red-shaded areas on the first map seem to depict is what might be called the southern "white belt".

This stands in rather stark contrast to other mostly rural, mostly white areas of the country such as North Dakota or Indiana. The latter, if you don't know this already, has a history of being a northern stronghold of the KKK. Obviously, not so much anymore. Elsewhere, however, Obama was decidedly not regarded as a viable candidate.

I teach for a living. And this is how I began my classes today.

I originally posted this as a comment, in response to Bernard Avishai's article, The Content of His Character.

I appreciate the pragmatism in this piece by Avishai. I understand the sentiment that, while it's great we finally got around to electing a minority to high office, there are much larger immediate issues at stake, and there were countless better reasons to vote Obama into the White House than anything to do with the color of his skin. I do appreciate that.

But, look. There will be plenty of time for such pragmatism.

Quite frankly, the "well it's about time" attitude, and the notion that if Cosby and Oprah and Tiger can win popularity contests, it only stands to reason that, ho hum, we're bound to elect a black president one of these days too, are a deep and profound insult to the moment at hand.

Fifty years from now, a hundred years from now, there will have been many mundane details already filled in. But what will stand out, what our children, our grandchildren, our great-grandchildren, will highlight in their history lessons and commit to memory, is what happened yesterday.

I'm white and privileged, born and raised in a comfortable middle-class suburban setting. But I do know a little about the historical weight of this moment in the story of America. I have not borne its often iniquitous burdens and legacies. But I do know enough of it to know that this moment in that story is nothing to be diminished, for any reason.

Witness the streaming tears of ecstatic disbelief, the joyous celebrations all across the country. The last eight years notwithstanding, this is not the stuff of presidential election results. This is something different. This is something momentous, in a much broader scheme of things than whatever the next presidential term or two will bear witness to.

Yes, of course it was bound to happen sooner or later. But it happened now. Right now. We should not make haste to lose sight of this moment and what it means.