President Elect Barack Obama

Oh happy day! I had to wait a few days until I could even write about it. I was afraid I would wake up and find out it was a dream. But it's not...it is real and Barack Obama will be the 44th president of the United States.

Last year I remember saying, "they'll never let a black man be president. They( whoever they are) will elect a woman president before a black man. My husband strongly disagreed... and he was right. I read his book Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance
and changed my mind during the primaries and dared to believe that he just may be able to win.

As a child, I remember walking downtown with my mother and my sister who was young enough to be in a stroller. So we are talking in the early 1960's. My mother quickly grabbed my hand to cross the street. There was fear in her eyes and agitation in her voice as I dallied to look at dolls in a store window. I didn't understand, but a group of men in white robes were approaching from the opposite direction. I didn't know who these men were and why my mother was so afraid, but I stuck my tongue out at them for upsetting her(guess I was opinionated even then). We have come a long way.

President Truman started the desegregation of the Armed Forces in 1950.Yes, I did say desegregate...black men could fight and give their lives, but were in segregated companies and units. Armed Forces desegregation was still taking place in 1953, while my father was stationed in New Orleans...otherwise referred to as the deep south. Black and white soldiers were on the same base, but still segregated in every other aspect. Seems the deep south moved as it's own pace.

One of my favorite Army stories that my dad told me was that during the desegregation process in 1953, four white soldiers were placed in my dad's still all black company. The company was going to march in a parade honoring the new President Eisenhower. The Captain of the company was a red haired, redneck from somewhere in Mississippi(more deep south territory). Check this out....the captain did not want the white soldiers to march with his platoon. He said they would mess it up, because they had no rhythm and couldn't march like the black soldiers....wait there's more....So on parade day, the captain assigned the white soldiers to barrack duty. The didn't mess up his platoon, but he messed up his career...his was swiftly reassigned to....ALASKA. Hey, he may even be a distant cousin to Sarah Palin...we all know she has some rhythm!

As I watched the results come in, I remember back to my initial thoughts about Barack Obama becoming president. I am so glad that I was wrong. Our Nation has come a long, long way. I am so very proud to be an American. Now lets all get up and get down to The Obama Dance!!