The Oklahoma Eagle

By Dan Hardman
Guest Columnist

Say it with me, “President-elect Barack Obama!” It’s ok to shout it. This is the equivalent of waiting to exhale for an entire race.
One can ask what can be said and simultaneously state there is so much to say. I start by saying thank you Jesus.
The symbolism of this day is unmistakable.
The choosing of a black man for President of the United States by what is undoubtedly a majority of white Americans proves one thing - the lie of white supremacy has been debunked once and for all. When the truth is presented reasonable people will choose to believe it.
We were never 3/5ths human, no matter what the Constitution says or how much some whites wanted to believe it. Take all the other lies that have been told about slaves, blacks, Negroes, and African-Americans and throw them into the bottomless pit of ignorance where they came from.
Those who insist on clinging to those lies will perish with them. The world is tired of hating, fighting, and fearing. Today we want to live, truly live and the election of Barack Obama as President of the United States is the clearest statement of that desire as any could be.
Looking back at the last 28 years, one can see that there’s been a movement afoot. Republicans always point back to Ronald Reagan as their standard bearer.
Yet what began back then was the deconstruction of Civil Rights achievements not just for Black Americans but for all Americans. Please tell me why it makes sense to push 90 percent of the wealth - the true middle and lower class equalizer - up to the top 1 percent in hopes that it will trickle down to the masses.
But this is far, far bigger than money. It’s about a sea change in mindset. On Tuesday millions of whites have shown that they no longer think of blacks as inferior, and most blacks no longer think of themselves as inferior either. In short, people are sick and tired of being sick and tired. We are tired of being lied to and lied on.
As Barack Obama said in his nomination acceptance speech, “Enough.” We have had enough.
There’s a picture circulating on the internet of a white man on a motorcycle wearing a white T-shirt that says, “Nigger, please. It’s the White House.”
Tuesday while at work, I overheard an old white man say to one of my co-workers that if Obama won he would want to tear him apart.
Don’t be angry or afraid but have pity on the ignorant, the foolish, and the pathetically sad and obsolete mindset these two men represent. They are powerless because in essence they no longer exist. They just don’t know it yet.
Like Barack Obama’s, my grandmother died too soon to see this day. But when I see her I can tell her I saw a black man, one who makes the entire world proud, elected President of the United States or America.

Dan Hardman is author of “Essays from Church - Vol. 1″ published by Penknife Press (penknifepress.com), and an independent filmmaker and freelance videographer here in Tulsa. He can be reached at 918.850-1331 or by e-mail: dhardman@att.net