Two events, One cause

So, of course, everyone now knows that Barack Hussein Obama is the 44th president of the United States of America. The son of a white American mother and a Nigerian born father, he is the first American president with African heritage (that we know of). I voted for him and I'm very glad that he won the election.

Now, let's talk about what this means for the millions of Americans that will now be looking to him for leadership in this, our hour of need. After watching the election at a friends house in Queens, NY, myself and two friends walked back to the train station to get home, chatting about the historic event along the way. My two friends, like me, are black men in their late twenties. On our walk, we came across another young man making his way somewhere after the election, a white man. We saw him coming toward us on the side walk just as we were about to reach an area where the path thinned between a fence and a tree. The three of us began to adjust our alignment so that he would be able to pass, but before we could complete the new formation, he swiftly ducked into a gateway in the fence. The three of us then stared in amazement as he ever so slightly nodded, urging us to accept the entire sidewalk and not slow or alter our footsteps. So, we obliged, looking at each other in disbelief.

On the same night, I was making my last connection to the J train at Canal and I overheard and saw another interesting event on the night of Obama's election. Ahead of me on the downtown Q platform there were two young black men, leaning against the wall and two young, white people walking past them. I didn't see what happened, but I'm guess that there was some sort of collision or accidental bump or something. One of the young black men yelled out to the young white guy, "...Oh, why you frontin', Obama '08..." or something of that nature. The young white guy's retort was, "...Oh, excuse me I'm sorry..." or "...I said, excuse me..", I can't remember. The young white woman turned around and asked the young white man, "...What did he say?.." and the white guy began to tell his version of the story. The white man and the white woman never stopped walking.

I've had a little bit of time to think about both of these events and I can't help but come to the conclusion that it's only the tip of the cultural iceberg that America has hit. Now that a minority is at the head of our national government, the social rules and regulations around privilege, respect, authority, communication and power can all be rethought and re-enacted in a very visceral way. No more hypothesizing about what it would be like to have black skin sitting behind the desk in the oval office. No more looking up the ranks of prosperity, and leadership and seeing white faces with a few people of color in the background. Oh No. Now, another type of experiential reference is directing the nation, and we'll all have to look at what change really is and how it's lived day to day.

Will black people in America feel emboldened a prideful now that the president is also black? Will white people feel devalued and unsure of their place in the nation now that someone who looks like a person that many of their ancestors would have owned is telling them what to do and how to do it?

Stay tuned.
I most certainly will be watching. Very, very closely.