The Samford Crimson

After the election results came in tonight, and Barack Obama was declared the next President of the United States, I jumped on Facebook to read literally hundreds of “status updates” from elated and enraged college students nationwide.

Some people decried the apparent advent of socialism in the United States. Others claimed they were going to “cling to their guns and religion.” And still others announced they would be moving off to a European country (which seemed strange, since these were some of the same people claiming to hate socialism).

After reading the somewhat outrageous reactions of my friends, all I have to say is: Stop. Breathe. Things are going to be okay. Get over your own personal views and feelings just long enough to appreciate the very historic nature of this night and the impact this election will have on race relations on the United States.

For many decades of our nation’s history, blacks did not have the right to vote, much less the right to run for political office. They were considered property. As white male property owners were busy establishing their new democracy, black slaves were sweating over the construction of our nation’s capital.

Even after slavery was abolished, many Americans still held on to their prejudices. Jim Crow laws were established to deny blacks their newfound right to vote, and segregation was commonplace throughout the southern United States.

When blacks began to fight for their civil rights, many even in our parent’s generation responded with church bombings and other hate-filled attacks.

Of course, we all know these things. But in the course of a heated political campaign, it can be easy to become so preoccupied with one’s own feelings and desires about particular political policies and not appreciate the new chapter America is beginning.

Now, blacks everywhere will be able to truly tell their children that they can become whatever they want some day. We now have a president who looks different than the ones you may have seen on your dollar bills.

But, of course, this election is not at all just about African-Americans. This election, this victory is for everyone who’s ever been in the minority, for anyone who has ever been counted out, for anyone who has ever been told that because of some characteristic  they have, they won’t be able to fulfill their dreams in life.

While we still have such a long way to go in achieving justice and equality in America - we still haven’t had a woman president, for instance - and while, with the apparent success of gay marriage bans in Arizona and Florida tonight, many Americans still seem okay with holding on to some of their prejudices, we now know that it is possible for anyone to make it in America, no matter how improbable it may seem right now.

As Abraham Lincoln once said and as Barack Obama quoted tonight, “We are not enemies, but friends. We must not be enemies. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection. The mystic chords of memory will swell when again touched, as surely they will be, by the better angels of our nature.”

Let’s come together. Let’s appreciate how far America has come. Let’s all now work for a better America.