This election grips black America with a powerful mixture of emotions

[Undercurrent]

Cautious joy as blacks imagine Obama win

Lula Cooper expects the tears to flow if Barack Obama becomes the first black president. But she's not breaking out the tissues just yet.

"I cried when I marked my ballot for him. We've had such an incredible journey to this point," said the former civil rights activist, her voice quavering. "I think he's going to win, but I really am very, very cautious."

Like a Hollywood blockbuster whose conclusion feels assured but still sets the heart racing, the endgame of this election has gripped black America with a powerful mixture of emotions.

Obama's potential victory represents a previously unimaginable triumph over centuries of racism. But beneath the hope and pride lies fear: of polling inaccuracy, voting chicanery, or the type of injustice and violence that have historically stymied African-American progress...


...So when it comes to Obama, Cooper is "optimistic and hopeful — but experience plays a big part."

"With my generation, in the '60s every leader that we had was killed," she said. "Then it's almost like a plate over your heart. Once you've been hurt — King, Kennedy, Medgar Evers — you dare not put that much emotion out there again."

With even some Republicans using the word "miracle" to characterize the prospect of a victory by GOP candidate John McCain, given his lagging poll numbers, the shock of an Obama loss would be almost incalculable for many blacks. So people are protecting themselves...


more...
http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/27488247/

[political_Dem]

1. It is a powerful and deep emotion.

The simple thought of Obama making this run, causes me to think about all the struggles Black people have experienced to get to this point.

But like my relatives and so many others, I'll wait until the results are finalized before I release myself to this moment.

Until then, anything can happen. But he's in my thoughts everyday as I hope for his safety.

[regnaD kciN]

2. There was one African-American staffer at the campaign office...

...I worked at today. A young woman, probably just out of college.

A few of us were talking about the election, and I was stunned to hear that she was the one who didn't think Obama would win. As far as she's concerned, there's going to be a huge Bradley effect on Tuesday, with vast numbers of whites flipping for McCain once they're in the voting booth.

When I held the opposite opinion, she told me that, if you're white, you have no idea of how powerful and entrenched racism is, but that she encounters it on a daily basis, and knows that it's going to sway a huge percentage of white voters into going for McCain, no matter what they may have claimed beforehand.

Since I'm not African-American, I can't speak to her experience, but I certainly hope we prove her wrong Tuesday night.