During our studies of the late 1700's, we have learned many aspects of our countries Independence. Some things that were valued in both the declaration and the constitution were the rights to be represented in order to be taxed, the equality of all people, and a system of government where the people, not a king, decide the countries affairs. Although these things were stated in these historic texts, they were not entirely accurate. When written, the term "the people" meant primarily white men. Native Americans, women, freed blacks, and slaves were not considered to be under this qualifying term. Slavery was not abolished until 1865, a full 89 years after the declaration was signed. Black people and white people could not even use the same drinking fountains, or entrances to stores up through the 1960's. Now, 40 some years later, an African American man is the president of our country.
For the first time, we now have an African-American president. As I watched president elect Obama's speech in Grant Park, I knew it would be something I would remember forever. Obama was going to the White House, a house that slaves built. When he started talking about Ann Nixon Cooper, I realized how truly far America has come. Her parents lived in the time of slavery, and being 106 years old, she has witnessed so many of the inequalities that our country has had. For some time she was not allowed to vote because she is a woman and because of her skin color. But more importantly, she lived to see the first African American president. I find it astonishing that one person has seen so much in her lifetime. This made me think and realize the great distances our government has gone. I think that the term "the people" is at least much closer to being a true statement. The Declaration and constitution may have not solved many of our nations problems, but it certainly sent our country in the right direction.
2 comments:
Nice post Danny. I also found Obama's reference to Nixon Cooper rather striking. However, I found even more striking an article I had read a few days early about a 109 year old woman, Amanda Jones, the daughter of a slave, who also cast her vote for Obama in this election. Here's the url of the article: http://www.statesman.com/news/content/news/stories/local/10/27/1027jones.html
I also find it interesting that the first vote she ever cast was for FDR.
I completely agree with you, we are truly witnessing a monumental moment in history with Obama being elected president. I find what you said about our government coming so far to be extremely interesting because I had never really thought about it but its so true. We really have undergone a journey to be where we are today.
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