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Jessica
Vozel
Read Jessica's bio and previous columns here
January 19, 2009
Today, We Celebrate;
Tomorrow, We Criticize
Today, I intended to write about some of the flaws I find in
President-elect Obama’s proposed economic stimulus package. Then, I was
kindly reminded that tomorrow Barack Obama will be inaugurated as our
country’s 44th president. Not that I had forgotten about the
inauguration itself, by any means. Instead, I’d forgotten what this
particular inauguration signifies, and the long road that led us here.
I
was reminded again when I perused the photos of President-elect Obama
and Vice President-elect Biden on the inaugural train headed from
Philadelphia to Washington D.C. People stood on rooftops and along the
train tracks to watch a train carrying their new president – a train
constructed in the time of Jim Crow laws and segregation – roll past.
They held American flags and signs that promised prayers to Barack Obama
and his administration. Not everyone is ecstatic about this transition.
It would be naïve to assume otherwise. But for those who campaigned for
this and believed then, as now, that this ailing country will be better
under his leadership, this is quite a moment.
I
had forgotten just how much I personally wanted this. I’d
forgotten about the doors I knocked on and the pamphlets I distributed,
the trio of children who begged me for the Obama buttons fastened to my
jacket, the energy of the crowds who gathered in Cincinnati to hear him
speak, the cautious optimism I wrote about the day before the election,
the happy tears on election night. After the glow of victory faded, it
was easy for me to start thinking about my next criticism. And there’s
nothing wrong with criticisms. Just not right now.
When I say “the long road that led us here,” I mean much more than a
taxing two years of campaigns, caucuses, political advertisements,
insults and defenses, controversies and triumphs. I mean the span of
generations of racial tension and a dark American history of slavery,
segregation and violence. I mean, too, the marches and speeches for
civil rights that ignited an ideological shift and made this moment
possible. Now, Barack Obama will deliver his inaugural speech just one
day after the holiday named in honor of the Civil Rights Movement’s most
influential leader.
Racism in America is not dead, and the long road doesn’t reach its final
destination on Tuesday. But this is a proud moment for America’s history
books – one that future generations will hopefully recognize as the
beginning of a new journey.
Obama’s optimism, it seems, is catching – or at least flourishing beyond
his optimism-infused general election campaign. According to a New
York Times/CBS News poll, 61 percent of Americans believe things
will be better five years from now and, in terms of the availability of
good American jobs, 57 percent believe the best is yet to come.
Additionally, 79 percent of those polled are optimistic about Obama’s
presidency, compared with 64 percent of those polled at the beginning of
President Bush’s first term. But there’s a healthy pragmatism, too – one
that mirrors Obama’s realistic view of the troubles ahead. Of those
polled, 56 percent believe it will take at least two years into the
Obama Administration for things to start shaping up.
Obama has a mountain’s worth of problems to contend with as he takes
office. He needs our optimism, and we need it, too.
Next week, I’ll discuss the problems with Obama’s stimulus package, and
when I do so, I will happily drop the “-elect” from his title.
© 2009
North Star Writers Group. May not be republished without permission.
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