Thoughts on The Incoming President

On Tuesday, January 20, 2009, President-Elect Barack Obama will become President Barack Obama, and a lot of things will change for America. Obama will be the first President of black parentage. I won't call him an African-American for a couple of reasons: one, unless you believe the propaganda that says he was born in Kenya--and is therefore ineligible to become President--he's not from Africa and therefore doesn't qualify for the hyphenated designation; and two, while his father was black, his mother was white...making him biracial, neither all black nor all white.

Unfortunately, there's still something of a racial divide in America, a chasm that still splits this nation 146 years after the Emancipation Proclamation, almost 45 years after the landmark Civil Rights Act, and nearly 41 years after Martin Luther King Jr. became a martyr for the cause of racial equality. For the first 100 years since Lincoln's proclamation, it was primarily the whites who kept this wound open; for the last 45 years, both sides are to blame.

Having grown up in a predominantly rural community, and having been born into a family that sold and serviced tractors and farm equipment, I frequent internet discussion boards that cater to farmers, rural folks, and old tractor enthusiasts. It's a predominantly white crowd, and also predominantly conservative Republicans. The posts on their discussion boards tell me a lot about what rural white America is thinking. And lot of them already don't like the President-Elect; in fact, many of them are already cheering for him and his programs to go down in flames even before any of his legislative agenda has been introduced in Congress.

I tend to take what I consider a more enlightened approach. It's one based upon my own background as a rural white American, but it's at odds with the majority of the opinions I see on these discussion boards. While I grew up in what today would be called a conservative household, my family was strong supporters of the Democratic Party. Not the pro-abortion, pro-homosexual-marriage Democrat Party of today, but the Truman and Kennedy Democrats of 40 and 50 years ago. My own political leanings are Libertarian [that all citizens have all rights not specifically ceded to the government], although I really think the political parties as we know them should all be outlawed and a better system for selecting our leaders devised.

From that background, my opinion is that a Barack Obama presidency is an opportunity. It's a chance to teach Americans--not just black Americans, and not just white Americans, but ALL Americans--that our stereotypical views of other Americans are holding us back from becoming all that we, as a nation, can be. Black America, and White America, take note:

Barack Obama didn't get where he is by embracing "gangsta" culture. He doesn't wear his trousers below his underwear. He doesn't wear chains and "bling" around his neck. He doesn't emulate the "thug" demographic. He doesn't speak "ebonics," but rather sounds as educated as he is. He didn't get where he is by covering his teeth with "grills."

He got where he is by working within the existing system. He conformed to the dress code, he learned, he studied, he took advantage of the opportunities that presented themselves to him, and he learned to play the game of politics better than his competition. He didn't complain about how "da Man" was keeping him down, or holding him back. He learned how the system works, and he took "da Man" to school, and beat him at his own game.

And by doing so, Barack Obama is now "da Man."

And so at this point, a couple of days before the Obama inauguration, I think it's safe to say that Obama is going to be the "no excuses" President. As in, there's no excuse for anyone, black or white, to claim that he cannot become whatever he chooses to be in America, simply because of his race or ethnic background. Barack Obama is living proof that any American who is willing to conform to the mold, who is willing to avail themselves of the educational opportunities in America, who is willing to speak rational thoughts in coherent sentences, can attain and achieve goals far beyond those available to previous generations of Americans.

The example of Barack Obama flies in the face of the pimp/"ho"/thug/gangsta model that too much of young black--and white--America embraces. He is, I repeat, the product of conforming to the model of white American success, embracing education, embracing the "uniform" of the business community, their clean-cut look, their speech and mannerisms.

And perhaps that's why so many in rural white America fear him. He looks just like the bankers and lawyers and stockbrokers that many rural Americans haven't trusted since at least the Great Depression, and yet he's also biracial/black. And these folks cast a wary eye on the preparations for the inauguration, deriding Obama as the (small-m)"messiah" who has led the welfare class to their own version of the Promised Land. Since Obama's election, sales of guns and ammunition are off the charts, as many rural whites believe that after Tuesday their Second Amendment rights will be immediately rescinded by some despotic act of a power-crazed dictator. Personally, I have no idea where that idea originates, and find it completely illogical. I mean, we can't even get this Congress to agree whether or not to help the auto industry; how can we expect instantaneous agreement on something as controversial as gutting the Second Amendment? And remember, it was Nixon, and later Cheaney, who espoused the doctrine that if the President does it, it can't be illegal; it certainly hasn't been the Democrats who have been proponents of that view of presidential power.

I suppose in the coming days, weeks, and months we'll have the opportunity to see just what an Obama presidency will bring. Let us hope that this new beginning will bring forth an era of cooperation between the races, and that there will soon no longer be reason for any of us to be described as any sort of hyphenated Americans. Let us hope that all Americans can find it in their hearts to unite toward a common goal, that of a strong and unified America...one that embraces Dr.King's dream of an America where the color of one's skin is unimportant, and one in which we all display a content of character in which we can take a justifiable pride.

Class Reunions ARE For Everyone

As I look out my window today, it's another overcast morning in
Southern Indiana, with a dusting of snow on the ground, and a few
more flurries coming down. But that means we're only weeks away from
the season of class reunions and alumni banquets! If my old
calculator is correct, the classes of '69 and '74 will have a couple
of significant milestones coming up...as well as the half-century
mark for '59...and James Best, Corydon's best-known alumnus, will
have a 65-year reunion going on with his Class of 1944!

On a related note, when contacting some classmates about reunions, I
sometimes hear comments along the lines: "Well, those people [my
classmates] didn't care much for me when I was in school; why should
I care about getting together with them now?" And I think I have an
answer to that.

When I was in grade school and junior high, I was teased
unmercifully. Some kids did some downright mean things to me, and
some did them on a daily basis. If anyone who ever attended Corydon
schools ever had a right to make a comment like the one above, that
would be me. But as I've grown older, I'd like to think I've grown
up...at least a little. And as I've grown, I've learned that the
heaviest burden you can carry in life is a grudge.

Sure, some of the things I suffered in school at the hands of
classmates were indignities that nobody should have to suffer. But I
realize that the folks who did these things to me were ONLY KIDS then,
too. They've grown up, as I did, and many of them have suffered
through medical problems, business problems, marital problems, and
family tragedies that are way beyond any snubs any of us suffered in
school.

A little forgiveness goes a long way.

In fact, if I judged all class reunions by my class' 10-year reunion,
I probably wouldn't have returned to any others. At the 10-year
reunion, I felt like the primary purpose of many folks was to
say, "Look at me!!! Look at how fabulous my life is!!!" At the time,
I'd just been laid off from my job, and it was pretty much all I
could do to scrape together the spare money to go to the reunion, and I had SO little to brag about. But then, it's hard to look down on people--which is essentially what bragging is about--when you're near the bottom yourself.

But at the 20-year reunion, the atmosphere was totally different. It
wasn't about impressing folks, it was about getting to see old
friends again. It was less a game of "Look at ME!!!" and more a
spirit of "Good to see ya!" " How are ya?" " DAMN, you look old!" [OK, I
was kidding about that last one...but only a little]. Discovering
that our favorite high-school hottie had developed a pair of "thunder-
thighs", or that Miller Lite had made some of the jocks a little
more "well-rounded" than we'd imagined, took a back seat to catching
up on where life had taken us since graduation. We laughed, we
reminisced about toilet-papering the coach's house, talked about our kids, and we enjoyed the company of the folks who were the biggest part of our lives for 4, 8, or 12 or more years of our lives.

So, based upon my experiences, I just can't understand why anyone
would carry what's essentially a childhood grudge so far into
adulthood. If anyone had a reason to do so, it'd be me. But
then, I'd miss all the time spent with friends at these
reunions...friends who were having just as hard a time as I was, in
different ways, in figuring out how to get through school, and life,
on a daily basis. I'll admit I made my share of mistakes growing up;
and it would be simply wrong of me not to allow for, and in these
days overlook, the mistakes of those who shared a gym class or a
study hall or a math class with me.

After all, we're only human, and life's too short to carry grudges.

So when you have the chance, GO to your class reunion. Chances are, the
folks you thought were jerks have probably gotten a lot wiser, and a
bit more mellow, over the years. And maybe you'll discover that you
have, too. And if you get the chance to dance to the music of your
era, and sing along with the records or CD's, sing as loud as you
can, and dance the way you wanna dance. People will remember what
you DID a lot longer than they'll remember what you DIDN'T do...and
as my great aunt always said, nobody ever built a statue of someone
for what he DIDN'T do.

So go to that reunion...be yourself...and get to know the people your
classmates are TODAY. You'll be surprised at how the conversations
seldom touch on how big someone's house is, or how many cars they
have, or how important their job is. But there'll be a lot of
demonstrations of how important their FRIENDS are. Stop carrying that grudge; lay down that burden; throw away that anchor that's been holding YOU back, but doing so little to the "intended" victims!!!

Go ahead and go to that class reunion...I promise it'll be worth it.