post-election

When my sister was in first grade her class was really small and she invited all of them to her birthday party. One little girl's mother called my mother to make sure her daughter was really invited. "Yes," my mother said, wondering why the woman would doubt the written invitation.

"But we're black," the other mother said.

We had a class picture and we already knew what everyone looked like. The idea that someone would be excluded like that never crossed our minds. Everyone came and had a fun time (except for perhaps a bit of cake overdose...) The mothers came from an era when that mattered. But the kids...I know we have a long way to go still, but we were born into a world where people had, with hard work and some blood, begun to change.

The coolest thing about historical nature of this election to me is not so much that a person of color got elected, but that race wasn't the reason for people voting for or against him. They either liked his policies better, or McCain's policies better, or in some cases didn't care for either of them.

This country might have a lot of huge problems, but there's one thing that sure has changed. And I can't say hooray enough!