The Poem and the Prayer

I thought Obama's speech was fine. He had a few good lines, and it'll be better in hindsight. Not as pleasing to the literary ear as I had hoped, but we'll see...

But I must espouse upon the after-speech ceremony. The poem? Hardly poetic. A million other choices could have been made. And the benediction?!?!? WHAT?

Lord, in the memory of all the saints who from their labors rest, and in the joy of a new beginning, we ask you to help us work for that day when black will not be asked to get back, when brown can stick around - when yellow will be mellow - when the red man can get ahead, man - and when white will embrace what is right.

Can't get much more offensive than that.

I am proud of our nation for coming so far to elect a half-black man to the Presidency of the United States. It is quite the distance from the days of hosing people down in the streets like animals, barring them from cafes and schools. We all should be proud, for letting go of the prejudices and wrong-doings of the past.

But it baffles me, that the people pointing out the discrimination and racism in the world, are black people. When I look at Barack Obama I do not see a black man. Sure, the color of his skin is darker than mine. But I've always seen a well-educated, eloquently spoken, devoted husband and attentive father who has the ability to move people with speech. It is all the black people that remind us he's black.

Well the discussion ends here. No one can tell me that black people have to start from further behind, that America doesn't give them a fair chance, that white people are still discriminating against them. No black man can back out of his responsibility and blame it on the government that doesn't support him, or the neighbors that don't understand his minority status.

I will simply point to our Commander in Chief and silence them.