11-05-08

You might expect me to gripe, whine and complain today. And, in a few more hours, when Lucky gets tired and whiny and I'm tired and whiny, I probably will let loose with some pent-up frustrations.

But this morning, I am, surprisingly, at peace with the whole election thing.

No, my preferred candidate didn't win.

But I cast my vote, and, disregarding of the electoral college, my vote was equal to the vote of any New Yorker or Californian or Ohio-an. There just weren't as many people who agreed with me.

I will not rehash my views. I've forced that on you enough already. But I will share this...

I really admired McCain's concession speech. He was class and honor personified. Just like the military person he is, he shouldered the failure of his campaign himself. I disagree with him. He was fighting against a shift in America that one man could not prevent - and maybe none of us should prevent. I do not believe that the US should move toward a more socialistic state. And that is exactly what sharing the wealth will do. But, the election of a president that is not "white" is huge and the US is ready for it.

And, for that, I'm proud. I'm thankful that we, as a nation, were color-blind and finally afforded someone of a racial minority the opportunity to lead our country.

If it were really that simple. As a member of the racial majority, I am not simple-minded or foolish enough to think that racism is dead. The realities of American life tells otherwise. And being part of the racial majority, I often have to have incidences of racism pointed out to me, as they don't affect me negatively. My favorite example of this ignorance on my part (and isn't this blog just a trip through my ignorance?) is a story about Sissy and her pediatrician and the little stickers the kids get after a doctor's visit...

Sissy attends public school and was in daycare/preschool with white, black, Hispanic and Asian kids. She would tell stories about her day's events, describing the kids by the color hair they had or if they had curly hair or not. Not by their skin color. (After all, the skin color in our house ranges from pasty, pale white year-round, me, to gingerbread brown in the summer, everyone else!) I just accepted this as Sissy's way and didn't put much value to it. But after a particular visit to our tiny Filipino pediatrician, Sissy went to select her sticker. There were some very exciting Barbie stickers that day, and she chose a black Barbie. Yanking off the paper backing, she put that pretty Barbie sticker on her shirt, patted it hard to make sure it was stuck real good-like.

Dr. D tapped me on the arm, smiling very big, she said, "she didn't choose a white Barbie. That's amazing."

Still the clueless buffoon, I nodded, truly not thinking anything of it. That's just Sissy.

Dr. D stopped me again, "she's a special kid. She doesn't care about skin color."

I began to realize what she was trying to tell me. "yes, she is a special kid. And that's just the way she is."

I hope that she never loses that. I hope she remembers that God loves us all the same. That He chose a different skin color for all of us and whatever meaning and value we assign to skin color is wrong.

So, when Sissy turns 8, she will celebrate the inauguration of a president who is a member of a racial minority. And, that is just plain cool.

I still pray for our country. I still pray for our leaders. But I do not FEAR. I believe.

I believe in the Messiah, Jesus Christ.