Childlike Faith in Childhood's End

Stumbled across .. umm, something... at the Politico today.  just go read it.

Every once in a while lately it strikes me while watching Countdown or the Daily Show, that this is really happening.  Against every conceivable obstacle, an African American is standing within reach of the Presidency.

Of the United States of America.

I envy my hairdresser's son, who turned eighteen this year and will be able to cast his very first vote for Obama.  That's....  I get choked up.  Like the elderly woman in the story, tears start rolling when I really think about it, and I'm just a white guy.  I can't imagine how it feels for an African American.

It's an unlikely story, and all props go to the insane wing of the Republican Party who have pushed themselves so very far over the cliff to allow for this to happen.  I said last night "The troubling thing for me is that without an abysmal, hopeless candidate hated by the right wing nutjobs, an appalling choice for VP, complete destruction of the economy and a laughably inept campaign strategy, Obama would be losing."  But once the barrier has been breached, the incoherent fears can be exposed like fear of the monster under the bed in the daylight.  of course, some will never let go of their fear; hatred and xenophobia comfort them and make them feel superior, and it's sometimes all they have; reason is a stranger.

Contrary to the popular wisdom, most racism in this country has not disappeared, it's just put on respectable clothes or is being hidden in the attic like a crazy aunt.  I wonder, sometimes, how my parents would have voted.  They were Fine, upstanding and hardworking folks, working class Democrats who would put Joe the Plumber to shame, but were also products of their generation like Obama's grandmother (best wishes to her and her grandson, hoping the visit in Hawaii provides the solace they wish), and prone to bigotry.  But they weren't stupid, and I believe watching Obama's skill and empathy would have been more than enough....

My son has grown up in largely interracial and bi lingual schools, and lived in a city all his life.  He's always had friends of all races.   I like to think that the future holds continued marginalization of that idiotic racism; that America can continue in a halting and difficult process of recovering from her past. I believe, most of the time, that increasing tolerance by kids will be the increasing norm.  But then, I'm inherently an optimist; I always say that architects have to be, in order to create lasting buildings (on the other hand, somebody also designs Wal-Marts; maybe those are the nihilist architects).

For a couple of years now, I have worked with African American clients, and still feel, deep down, some of those fears of 'Other' wired into my lizard brain by a suburban upbringing; but every day, those bumps have been eroding like an asphalt speed bump.  It's entirely possible they may be smoothed away by the time I leave...

And I know that if we are fortunate enough to watch Obama win on the 4th, I will likely be weeping along with that woman.  That American woman.

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