Truthfully

The Presidency of Barack Obama reveals the beauty of the American political system. But even while we celebrate the nation's first dark-skinned president we need to remember that the same system that brought him to the White House will also usher him out. In four, hopefully eight, years Barack Obama will no longer be the President of the United States. What will America be like in the years following this unique Presidency?
To answer this question we need to recall a few realities. America was filled with hope when George Washington became the nation's first President. Against all odds they had overcome the might of Great Britain. They had drafted a masterful Constitution that continues to be a model for nations around the globe. But in a few decades the nation was torn apart by a devastating Civil War. The journey forward had been interrupted by giant steps backward because they had not come to terms with the conditions of the Revolution.
The Revolution that gave rise to the new nation was based on the idea that all men are created equal. But written into the Constitution was the admission that some people in this new nation were not equal, for they were not fully human. The Civil War reminds us that those who step forward can step backward if they do not speak power to the truth. The Civil War was inevitable as long as some of the nation's unrecognized citizens were deprived of their full humanity.
It is remarkable that Barack Obama was elected in an environment where we failed to speak power to truth. The economic meltdown was the result of the Wall Street lie of unfettered and unlimited wealth and prosperity. The Madoff led Ponzi scheme that cost fifty billion dollars was based on another lie. The failure to speak power to truth has its consequences.
If we want to ensure that we do not step backward after the next four or eight years we must not adopt another lie.
Barack Obama is the product of an Negro from Kenya and a Caucasian from Kansas. If being half-black makes him the first black American President, what would being half-white make him? If we go through the next four, or eight years seeing him as the first black President we may be preparing for major steps backward. We have entered the post-partisan era and must ensure that we do not lay the foundation for going backward.
If we keep looking for the change that he will bring then we have forgotten that just as it happened with George Washington, it was change that brought Barack Obama to Washington. Americans have changed. For the first time all Americans are equal. But we can go back if we are not careful.
As we go forward under the leadership of America's first dark-skinned President let us ensure that the change we have experienced is never reversed.