Not Just a Man, A Whole Country
December 31, 2008
At noon, on Jan. 20, when the 44th President of the United States of America raises his right hand and swears on the Lincoln Bible as he takes office, the United States closes a sordid page of its history and opens a new chapter on its own identity.
The sight of the first black president of this country, as dramatic as it is, may be masking the fundamental changes in the United States over the last 60 years that will make this day possible for Barack Hussein Obama.
Not to take anything away from President Obama as a person (smart, disciplined, confident, empathetic, and beefcake of the year) or from his superb campaign over the past two years (as nearly flawless as humanly possible), it’s still healthier and more accurate to remind ourselves that millions of people throughout this land have struggled mightily so that we all can arrive at this historic moment.
Starting in 1492, the exploration into the “New World” quickly turned into a massacre, and the devastation continued for centuries. Unable to force the natives to work for them, the colonial settlers imported African slaves to develop the agricultural and natural resources that produced the start-up capital ready to exploit during the American Revolution. But in 1776, even as they declared independence and initiated a new form of government, our founding fathers still denied citizenship to blacks and natives, while barring women from the voting booth.
It took a Civil War to liberate the slaves, and it was only in 1920 that women got their votes. But the majority in this country still had to wait until World War II - when women replaced many men in the factories, when the United States had to import laborers from Mexico and when black, native, Asian and Latino soldiers proved their patriotism in the battlefield, albeit in separate units - before the people who had been oppressed for so long realized that they could unshackle themselves. It was a different attitude, a new assertiveness.
Thus, the Civil Rights Movement inspired all other liberation movements since the 1960s: women, Native Americans, Latinos, elderly, Asian Pacific Islanders, gays and lesbians, disabled, immigrants, the poor, students.
When W.E.B. Dubois and Susan B. Anthony championed the equality of colors and genders; when Cesar Chavez and Philip Randolph demanded fair wages and fair treatment for their workers; when Sitting Bull and Harvey Milk challenged the discrimination inflicted on their communities; when Thurgood Marshall won Brown v. Board of Education or when Betty Friedan and her group founded the National Organization for Women; when Fred Korematsu challenged the constitutionality of Executive Order 9066 or when Mildred and Richard Loving asserted their right to marry; when Rosa Parks refused to give up her seat; or when Nancy Pelosi gaveled the House to order, they all paved the way for Barack Obama to take his oath of office.
Even when Sidney Poitier came to dinner, Oprah Winfrey settled in our living room, Bill Cosby introduced us to the Huxtables, Gene Roddenberry gathered together a truly multi-racial crew and Sesame Street erased the color lines, they too eased the way for us to vote for the first black president.
Perhaps it’s a coincidence, but still a propitious one, that this year we’ll celebrate the 100th anniversary of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People. If there is a pantheon out there somewhere, the celebrated and the unsung, unknown heroes who changed this country for the better must feel very gratified watching Obama taking his oath of office.
Vu-Duc Vuong (vuduc.vuong@gmail.com) is a writer and teacher in the Bay Area.
Comments
Got something to say?
