Joy, pride, relief ... partisan hack?

I am proud to be an American.
 
I’ve said that statement many times in the past, but today I am especially proud to call myself a citizen of the United States of America.
 
To help you understand why I feel this way, I need to explain a bit about my background. I was born in the South in the early 1960s. I was raised in a white, upper-middle class, decidedly segregated culture. I attended a “white flight” private school. My family enjoyed membership at an all-white country club. We very neatly fit into the segment of society that Dr. Martin Luther King called “sons of former slave owners,” my ancestors having been slave owners prior to the Civil War. I distinctly remember being told by friends and family members “you can be nice to black people, but you cannot be friends with them.”
 
I also vividly remember how African-Americans were treated in our culture. Any attempt by leaders to address injustices was met with a derisive “What do those people want now?” African-Americans were treated with scorn, if they were treated at all.
 
In my younger years, I harbored feelings and said things about fellow American citizens that I now realize were wrong and deeply hurtful — to myself as well as to them. I have begged God to forgive me the many years I disrespected people just because their skin was darker than mine.
 
I know I am not alone. There are many other Americans who came from similar backgrounds or who in the past harbored similar attitudes toward African-Americans who now realize the pain and injustice that those feelings bring to bear in our society.  Thankfully, like me, they now reject those attitudes and are working toward reconciliation.
 
That’s why I can watch the news this morning and feel immensely proud.  Our nation has elected an African-American to the most powerful office in the country, if not the world. We have sent a signal to the watching world — a world that said an African-American would never be elected president of the United States — that our nation is still “the land of opportunity.” This is an amazing moment, especially when you see it through the prism of our history.
 
I feel certain that I will not agree with every decision that President Obama will make — but I can say that about every president in my lifetime.
 
Differences over policy, however, can wait for another day. Today is a day we should be celebrating this incredible accomplishment.

Yes, I am proud to be an American.

Brian Ellison
Durham
 
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This is a historic day for America, a day that I am thankful that God allowed me to live to see it.

When I was growing up in coastal North Carolina in the 1940s and ’50s, blacks were considered by most locals to be less than human. Not so by my parents, even though both of their ancestors had been in North Carolina for 200 years or more and some had been slave owners. My mother, in particular, always emphasized to me that they were people just like us.  She took pride in the simple fact that she shared the dinner table with an African-American housekeeper who assisted her for a while after I was born. My father worked shoulder to shoulder with African-Americans at the menhaden factory, had black friends and never showed any evidence of bigotry.

I remember thinking how unfair it was that African-Americans were consigned to separate, but unequal schools; were turned away from hospitals, sometimes needlessly dying as a result; had to use designated “Negro” restrooms and drinking fountains (if they were were lucky enough to find them); and, despite our being a coastal community, were not allowed on the beach (except for fully-clothed nannies in the care of small white children). In the mid-1950s, Morehead City had two movie theaters, of which only one permitted blacks — in a sealed-off balcony accessible by way of a fire escape in the adjacent alley. 

By the time I began my university studies at UNC-Chapel Hill, the university had been integrated for 10 years, but there were only a handful of African-American students enrolled.  I befriended one who was turned away from the First Baptist Church on Franklin Street because of the color of his skin. Students and faculty rallied around him and a new church was established on campus. While I was not an activist, I supported the UNC students who demonstrated against segregation and were successful at integrating some businesses downtown.

In 1960, I left North Carolina for graduate school at the University of Wisconsin, never thinking I would be able to return. There were precious few blacks in Wisconsin or at UW-Madison, but I befriended one from South Carolina, who was also working on a Ph.D. in chemistry, and I observed for the first time inter-racial dating on campus. During those years (1960 through 1964), the South was in turmoil — heinous crimes were being committed against blacks, and governors were standing in schoolhouse doorways in an ultimately futile attempt to prevent integration. Fortunately, by the time I finished my Ph.D. in 1964, the Research Triangle Park had been established, and a diverse and racially tolerant population was budding in the Triangle area. I have worked with many African-Americans over the course of my career, including those from other countries.  I never saw them as any different from myself.

I think that John McCain is an honorable man, and although he permitted himself to be manipulated by the radical right wing, I believe that he would have resumed his moderate stance and done a credible job at governing this nation. However, his running mate would not have done a credible job should he have succumbed to melanoma.

Neither he nor Barack Obama can fix this nation overnight, as I am afraid many people naively expect, but I believe that Obama possesses the coolness of mind, personality and intelligence to effectively bridge the partisan divide and put us back on track. And I think that he, more than anyone, can heal this nation’s soiled international image. 

Thank God that the time has finally arrived in this country “when people will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character.” May God protect and guide our new president through the very difficult times ahead.

Bob Lewis
Cary

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America has spoken. We are now to move forward unified as a country, and all must be hopeful that we will continue as a great nation.

We should not sit back and wait for all the campaign promises to come to fruition as most of the time they don’t.  Those who are successful are those who get busy achieving their goals instead of waiting for someone to do something for them. Those who are good community citizens are that way because they want to help and to give, not because our government says we have to. Those who stay involved in their children’s education do so because they want them to become responsible, knowledgeable and independent. Be thankful for this great country and pray for peace, strength and prosperity for all.

If you were a first-time voter and have not yet really educated yourself on the current issues of your country, state and town, then start now.  We have even greater opportunity, as you have seen, to make a difference.  During these next four years, pay attention to the issues and how this new administration has changed things for the better or not, and you will be able to make an informed decision on whether you want things to continue with President Obama, or another candidate.

Yes, I am disappointed in the elections. But I still love this country and know that all the newly elected have worked hard because of their love for this country. Who would go through the last few months of campaigning who didn’t truly care? Those who did not win are not leaving the country.  I’m not, either.

Jennette Rafetto
Cary

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Nov. 4 around midnight, acclamations of joy and relief could be heard across my apartment complex because of news of Barack Obama’s victory and John McCain’s defeat. Yet the next morning on the walk to my car, I noticed Obama’s red, white, and blue Hope posters littering the ground after being torn to shreds. Both are reactions to the results of the election that could not be any different.

After months of campaigning from the right and the left calling for change, I have to wonder whether any of this promised change will occur. And in an election of high voter turnout, it seems obvious that America as a whole is not satisfied with the direction the country is currently taking. Yet will our nation overcome its difference of opinions in order to achieve change or will the stronghold that exists in America due to party lines continue to reign over Washington?

Caitlin Greene
Raleigh

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Though I have read many accounts of black Americans’ weeping at the results of the election, I am a white woman and I, too, wept when I realized that the intelligent, articulate African-American Barack Obama would soon be our next president.

I was overcome with being part of this defining moment in American history and thrilled that, at long last, we can become united by hope instead of divided by fear.  

Carol Muth
Raleigh

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I do fervently hope that my reading of Barack Obama as the most partisan senator ever elected is wrong and that the few people I know who see him as a “closet” moderate with bipartisan tendencies are right.

Even though the war, the economy, taxes, energy and health care are rightfully the key focus areas, I think the two bellwethers of bipartisanship will be the issues of check-off replacing secret ballots in union elections and the Fairness Doctrine being pushed by Nancy Pelosi to curb conservative talk radio.

By the way, there is some irony of people feeling that secret ballot is somehow not viable in such a historic election year. In both of these issues, Obama has so far supported the party line, but it has been stated by Ron Williams of NPR that both of these along with trade are areas where Obama is really not radical.

We can only hope. If I’m wrong, I will be delighted.

William Conklin
Raleigh

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Overzealous supporters of several candidates and interest groups have usurped state highway rights of way and flouted state statutes to post their campaign signs. These signs are like mushrooms in a lawn after a heavy rain. Unsightly and unwanted. State statute G.S.136.32 prohibits all but official highway signs on state highway rights of way. Several years ago, N.C. DOT adopted an ordinance prohibiting the placement of advertising signs within highway rights of way.

Now that the election is over, I hope that the campaign volunteers utilize the same zeal in removing signs as they did in placing them.

Kirk Port
Raleigh

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Tuesday was my birthday, and I got the best gift possible — a new president and, best of all, the one I supported. It was my best birthday gift ever, but that is not why I am writing.

Discussions about the election will no doubt go on for months — even years. But there is one aspect that has not been celebrated enough.

I have always made a point of voting, but every year I heard many people say they did not vote because they felt their vote would not count —  that big money controlled our elections. Despite the powerful influence of money on politics, the American people have never really been disenfranchised, but many felt they were.

This election ended that. Who could not rejoice at the reports of huge numbers of people coming out for early voting and the overall high voter turn-out. I ate out Tuesday night, and my charming waitress had voted for the first time earlier that day. She was so happy and proud I’m sure she will not fail to vote in the future. A friend told me he watched as door-to-door volunteers registered a 100-year-old neighbor so she could vote for the first time in her life.

The true power in this country is in the grassroots, and many people discovered that for the first time with this election. This is the first major accomplishment of Obama’s administration.

Merrilie Brown
Chapel Hill

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My faith in humanity has been restored. Barack Obama was able to win the presidency without rancor, vandalism or slandering. He won on his own merits. Thank you fellow, Americans.

Sally Wenda
Raleigh

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Several years ago I spent a few weeks working in downtown Philadelphia. As an amateur student of our nation’s history, I was thrilled to be in the same city block as the American Philosophical Society, the origins of the Lewis & Clark expedition, the home of Benjamin Franklin and the birthplace of our government. Every time we walked to dinner, we went past a national monument. We were walking the same streets that Benjamin Franklin walked. One night after dinner, I walked around Independence Park and was able to look at the Liberty Bell from the sidewalk.

I remember what a thrill that was. I stood there, alone and in the cold dark night, thinking about the history of that bell. The symbolism it embodied. What it meant to the nation as a whole. I’ve thought about it a few times since then as I fondly remember my time there. As I sit here watching the election coverage, I am drawn back to that time.

I mostly remember wondering what it sounded like. When they first hung up that bell and tested it. When they rang it to announce the first Continental Congress. When they rang it to announce the battles of Lexington and Concord. The Liberty Bell (also called the Independence Bell) was used to call the community together so that the latest news could be disseminated. It was used to announce the bellwether events of the day.

Tonight, I now know what it sounds like. It’s ringing as I write this. We have our own bellwether event. Barack Obama will be the 44th President of the United States of America. Over the coming days there will be much wailing and gnashing of teeth. There will also be much joy and excitement. Pundits will wax philosophically about the good and the bad of the Obama administration. Regardless of how any of us feels about it, the bell still rings.

It’s ringing stretches all across the world. It is ringing loud and clear. All nations can hear it. The ground trembles with the vibration of its sound. The whole world sees an African-American man elected to the highest office of the land. This is a man who 150 years ago would have been an uneducated slave. He would have worked himself to death in a Southern cotton field. This is a man who even 50 years ago would have lived in a segregated society. Now his picture will be everywhere for everyone to see. Dictators will see it. Terrorists will see it. The rich and powerful and the poor and defenseless will see it. Make no mistake, we are still a shining city on the hill. We are the model for freedom across the world. We are the last, best hope for freedom everywhere.

We have finally done it. We have transcended race and wiped away the tarnish the last eight years have left on our national brand. I never thought I would live to see this day. This is the fall of totalitarianism and communism. This is the defeat of the Axis powers. This is the destruction of the Berlin Wall and the reunification of Germany. This is the creation of the European Union. This is 9/11.

No matter what side of the fence you sit on, you should remember this day. No matter what his policies turn out to be, remember this day. No matter where we are in four or eight years, remember this day. I know I will. We still have a long way to go, but we are well on our way in getting there. I thank God for this day and pray for the strength to continue down the road. The election is finally over. We are all one people. Let us unite and work together on the major issues of the day. We have so much work to do.

Douglas Ward
Holly Springs