I Can't Believe I Voted For A Black Man

[Symarip]

I just got back from the polling station. The line was decently long, but I was in and out in an hour. I brought along someone who had never voted before - she voted for Obama. Anyhow, everything was as cool as a cucumber until I stepped in to my office just now and it hit me:

I voted for a black man.

I'm not black. My best friend is. Not that any of that seemingly matters, but somehow it does. Most of my friends are of some minority status since I grew up in the slums of San Diego. I thought about what this moment would mean when the time finally came and I didn't think it would effect me. In the end, I would vote for the person who was most qualified to hold the highest office, regardless of his ancestry. But the feeling is overwhelming as I sit here quiet. I feel a great sense of pride in being a United States citizen today.

Earlier, I remembered a conversation I had back in my military days. A few of my black friends and I were bullshitting about politics and we all agreed we'd probably see a woman or someone of latin decent be president before a black man. It just seemed so impossible given the blatant racism we had all witnessed living in Virginia at the time. I'm so glad we were wrong. Virginia is now a bastion of progessive thinking. Who would have thought?

Today is not the tomorrow I thought it was going to be yesterday. And that's a wonderful thing. I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like.

[theoldman]

1. I didn't vote for a black man. I voted for Obama

who is a mixed race, 50% black and 50% white. Strange that people who are half Chinese are not called Chinese. They are considered as being half Chinese or sometimes just a person with some Asian blood.

[olkaz]

22. Exactly, he's actually Arab.

Just kidding! For some reason I couldn't resist.

I still have to wait for 2.5 hours before I get to cast my third vote for Obama (Senator, Primary, now Presidential).

[liberal N proud]

2. Incidentlly...

Just as John F. Kennedy was only incidentally a Catholic, so is Obama only incidentally a black man. It is not just that he is post-racial; so is the nation he is generationally primed to lead. This, of course, was the dream of the man who is buried on his beloved ranch -- the unheralded winner of this election. As he would put it: My fellow Americans, we have overcome.

Richard Cohen, Washington Post: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2008/11/03/AR2008110302609.html

[Captain Hilts]

3. Dupe

[liberal N proud]

5. As my 15 yo daughter said when Hillary lost the primary...

Black men were allowed to vote before women so it is following history that a black man becomes President before a woman.

[Number23]

10. What is with you guys??

Black men were allowed to vote before women so it is following history that a black man becomes President before a woman.

And you're not embarrassed that she said this?? Obviously not as you felt the need to come to DU and post it before all 100,000+ members.

This should be the happiest day of the damn YEAR for everyone, and then I come here and see this mess.

[Captain Hilts]

12. We are damned happy. I voted an hour ago. nt

[noiretextatique]

18. i'm black and i don't have a problem with this statement

it's proven to be true. and today is one of the best days i've had in 8 years. hopefully, tomorrow will be even better.

[Number23]

26. It's "truthfullness" is debateable

My grandparents (both raised in the South) may have had the right to vote in the early 20th century, but they and many of their friends and family may not have exercised it for fear of all manner of pain and heartbreak. And I'm sure that may also apply to early voters who were white women.

But the issue is that this is a phenomenal day and instead of folks worrying about the "pecking order of power" ie who got what and when, I don't understand why we can't all celebrate the sheer power of today and just be thrilled that we are all alive to see and experience this part of history. This is a great day for America.

[noiretextatique]

28. it will be proven true tonight, hopefully.

i know black people didn't get voting rights until fairly recently. but i do think sexism is still a huge issue, so i am not at all surprised that a black man will be the first non white male president. in retrospect, i can see why you have a problem with that comment.

[Number23]

29. Wow

I am sorry that your need to see a female president is apparently overriding any ability you may have to celebrate the brilliant black man that will soon be taking office. This would appear to explain your growing hostility. How very sorry I am for you.

Me, I see the forest AND the trees so life is DAMN good for me.

ETA: I see that you edited and I appreciate your comment. I am glad that we both can celebrate this wonderful happy day together as Americans.

[noiretextatique]

33. please don't project or misunderstand

i am a 50yo black woman who never thought i'd see a black man or a white woman become president.
obama's victory, and the support he's gotten from all of the world, is the closest thing to a miracle that i have ever seen.

let me elaborate a bit:
when i was a little girl, sexism was all the rage. there were so many rules for females about what we could and couldn't wear, for example. i didn't know i was american until i went to europe where i felt the absence of the insidious, constant racism i experienced in america. ronald reagan was elected the year i graduated from college...one of the most depressing events of my life. my father and sister passed away under during bush's reign....they didn't make it to see what's happening as i type this message.

i have watched, mostly in horror, as the rw has systematically destroyed mush of the progress we made as a society in terms of race and gender. it's been beyond disheatening, dismaying, and depressing.

but...i have never felt more hopeful or more proud of my country as i do now :hi:

[liberal N proud]

21. It was a fact of history

Nothing more.

[tigereye]

23. we will see a female president in our lifetime...

he was just the right person for this time. :hug:


I supported HIllary in the primary and did work for her, and I was glad to do the same the last few weeks and for Obama today.

[liberal N proud]

24. Don't doubt it a bit

Hope so, Us old white males have fucked it up pretty damn good.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

27. It's also racist white washing.

Considering that black people, while on paper were allowed to vote, were actively being forced from the polls until forty years ago.

[Captain Hilts]

35. Black voters helped turn the tide for FDR in the South. They voted for Hoover in '32...

and FDR in '36.

[Brewman_Jax]

30. History is incomplete

Poll taxes, literacy tests, grandfather clauses, and violence were used to keep all black people, not just men, from voting, until the passage of the Voting Rights Act of 1965.

[Number23]

31. Preach it, man!

I said pretty much the same thing, and was speaking from actual family experience. The stories my grandfather told before he died would curl the hair of many DU'ers....

:thumbsup:

[Brewman_Jax]

37. I heard the stories, too

from my great-grandfather, who told of the Night Riders in early 1900's Louisiana. :scared:

[Symarip]

32. Thanks for pointing this out

Not that one should up the other. Let's face it, our country has done a good share of fucking over a great number of different groups of people.

[Captain Hilts]

4. Black generals. Black admirals. Black NFL coaches. We don't trust women to host a game show on TV.

So, women are still waaay behind in the hunt.

Notice all the black men that financial/investment firms have hired as spokesmen? I've NEVER heard a woman do it.

People are perfectly comfortable with black men in positions of authority.

The ones who aren't didn't vote for Kerry, Gore or Clinton either. Fuck 'em!

[Number23]

8. Would you mind letting the black men in my family know this?

People are perfectly comfortable with black men in positions of authority.

'Cause if by "people" you mean WHITE people, your statement (said so matter of factly) will come as a bit of a damn shock to them.

[Captain Hilts]

11. Not all whites, but a great many.

25 years ago flag ranks were rare as were NFL head coaches.

Progress is being made. It's a good thing.

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

15. Yup, there are an awful lot of sexists out there.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=341x13499#13515

[Kweli4Real]

17. You forgot the sarcasm smilie EOM

[ipfilter]

6. I voted for Barack Obama for President of the United States.

The color of his skin wasn't on my mind.

[Symarip]

9. Neither was it for me

And it probably isn't for most people voting for him.

AND that's why I posted this. I can't believe how far we've come. Of course, we have a long, long way to go. But would any of us ever imagined this day would come? I didn't. And I'm glad I'm wrong.

Jesus H. Christ. I didn't think my post would be so divisive.

[ipfilter]

13. I didn't take it as divisive.

[livedemocarticordie]

34. nor did i !

I thought your statement was thoughtful and well meaning...an no offense no black person in Americs just happens to be black,,,give me a break..its not the way the males in my family have been experiencing life...My husband is biracial but unfortunately he has not had the luxury of running around saying I'm half italian; I'm just a man. Most white people see him as a black man..thats it --end of discussion...

[Symarip]

36. I completely understand

Myself, I'm just a run of the mill white guy. I have the luxury of saying I'm German and Irish. But most the people I know who are half black don't really feel 'half white'. They feel black because regardless if it's right or wrong or neither or both, the 'black half' is what ultimately dictates society's view of them.

[kick-ass-bob]

41. That's because people don't read the whole message before responding.

While I didn't "vote for a black man" either, the significance and that we actually had the opportunity to do so is staggering.

[ROh70]

7. A vote for Obama IS a vote for a black man. And a white man. And a Hawaiian.

And a Chicagoan. And a Harvard Law grad. And a constitutional law professor. And an Illinois state senator. And a US senator from Illinois. And a father of two adorable little daughters. And a husband of a wonderful and brilliant African American woman. And . . .

[codjh9]

14. Your last paragraph is cool, especially the first sentence. n/t

[Silent3]

16. I voted for a... pie eater!

And one of these days I'm going to have to try some sweet potato pie to see if it's everything it's cracked up to be. :)

[Crunchy Frog]

19. I voted for the candidate I felt would be the best for my fetuses.

I really don't care about race. I wouldn't have touched Condi with a ten foot pole.

[slampoet]

20. My first Vote was for a black man, Jessie Jackson. He ended up winning Michigan Primary that year.

[Symarip]

25. That would have been interesting to experience

I'm 30 years old so y'know, politics weren't all that important back then. I think I was more worried about if the lunchlady had pizza.

Now that this is done, I wonder what it's going to be like when the walls fall down for women and other ethnic minorites. Hell, maybe we'll actually see an atheist president one of these days, right?

[Johonny]

38. I'm just glad this isn't an Allen Keyes thread

[Symarip]

40. Ha.

Thanks. I needed a chuckle. I'm starting to white knuckle a bit on this end.

[Blue_Tires]

39. fwiw Virginia did vote in a black governor almost 20 years ago