One fact that became clear in the months since Obama stepped into the political arena to contest for America’s highest political office is that he is a global phenomenon. He is, in fact, more popular in Africa, Europe, and Asia than in America. What would his presidency mean for, say, African Americans as well as Africans? Obama’s election represents great symbolic triumph for America’s African descendants. They have come a long way from their days as captives whose labor was exploited by Caucasian plantation owners. They have endured the horrors of slavery as well as America’s adamant refusal to apply to them the lofty sentiments of the U.S. constitution which holds that all people are created equal, endowed by their creator with certain inalienable rights, among these life, liberty and the pursuit of liberty. They have been betrayed again and again by the founding fathers of the American Republic. Their humanity was once called into question.
I think many African Americans see this as a long over due issue. Electing a charismatic, qualified African American to the White House is an issue that has been littered with racial overtone by white Americans. You should hear how many uneducated, uncivilized comments that comes out of many white southerners during this Presidential election. Many of them think electing an African American to the White House is like letting Black people take over America. They forget that African Americans are Americans too. This is due to long standing racial prejudice passed from parents to children without bothering to correct this terrible misinformation about African Americans. I do hope electing the first African American to the White House will resolve many of these misinformation and cast a little bit of light among these types of people