The Inauguration That Was

I'll admit, I haven't watched a lot of inaugurations in my lifetime. However, I've seen a couple and I decided, after some debate, to watch some of yesterday's proceedings.

Undeniably, yesterday was a historical day. It will be forever recorded as the first time a black man became our nation's president. There should have, indeed, been much to celebrate, but in good conscience, I cannot celebrate this historical achievement. After all, what have we, as Americans, really achieved? Was the election and inauguration of President Obama really an end to racism? Or rather, was it a further wedge among the races?

See, I have never had a problem with having a black president. If George W. Bush had been a black man, I still would have happily voted for him, as I'm am quite certain most other conservatives would. I did not vote against Obama because he was black. In all honesty, I could not possibly care less what color the man is, I fundamentally disagree with virtually all of his policies. However, the problem lies with the millions of black men and women who, in quite likely many cases, abandoned their principles to vote for a man, not based on his qualifications or policies, but simply for his skin color. That, folks, is blatant racism. I don't know what else to call it.

See, a truly historical event would have been for people of all colors to vote for a man based on his character and policies and nothing else. His style, his speaking abilities, his skin color and his attractiveness would make no difference. They SHOULD NOT MATTER to anyone. The only thing that matters in the presidency is a person's character and policies. His race is NOT an issue.

Yesterday's inauguration events, for the most part, were the typical formalities. However, all the hoopla from the media about what an historical day it was simply because Obama was a black man leads me to believe that the only thing many people care about is this man's race. Instead of bringing the races together, the continued focus on Obama's race drives a wedge between people.

While men like Rev. Lowry say "prayers" such as "....help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around, when yellow will be mellow, when the red man can get ahead, man, and when white will embrace what is right..." racism is still alive and one might even contend, growing stronger. Not only has Obama's race been the issue in this campaign upon which he won, but "prayers" such as Lowry's are offensive to pretty much every other race, and in particular to whites. Is this really the tone we should be cheering and lauding as "historical"?

In addition, if conservatives (many of whom are white) dare to disagree with President Obama over the next 4 years, we will be certain to be labeled by many as "racist" because we do not want a black man to succeed. Far from it...I would be firmly behind a conservative black man, joyfully rooting him on and supporting him, if he were my president, but not because he was black....simply because of his positions on issues.

And so, I contend that racism is alive and well and the historical moments we witnessed yesterday weren't so special when given some consideration. When Americans of all colors join together and judge a president based not on the color of his skin, but on the content of his character, then that will truly be an historical moment.