Not just a black president

“Vayakam melech chadash”
— “Now there arose a new king”
Exodus 1:8

What is there to say that has not already been said? The people of America came to Washington on Tuesday. Every race, creed and color. They were there. On the screen before me was a tide of humanity stretching as far as the eye could see. As if a huge flag of the stripes and stars were unfurled across boulevards, a miniature America was right before me.

Seeing so many people, especially the now frail and elderly Tuskegee pilots of WWII on the screen, overcome by tears, weeping openly, this historic moment in American history felt like a catharsis, like the beginning of a collective, national healing and repair.

Rev. Lowery’s closing benediction was poetry, beginning with the very first line from the famous Negro anthem, “ . . . G-d of our weary years, G-d of our silent tears . . . ”

To live to witness a day with generations of African Americans who never dreamed such a moment in time could actually come to pass, you could almost hear the hoofbeats of history.

Slavery is the darkest chapter in our American history, it has always marred our glory. And to think that Barack Obama stood, poised to be sworn in as the 44th president of the United States of America, on steps of the Capitol, the very steps hewn out of the tears and suffering of slaves, makes you think that anything really is possible.

This makes you not just hear the sounds of history, but internalize that you are an actual, living part of the continuum of history. Indeed, this unprecedented presidency is the beginning of a new era in our country.

Sometimes, history has a way of smiling on you. Celebrating Martin Luther King’s birthday and legacy on Monday and inaugurating Obama on Tuesday certainly seems to be the expression of two people, of two ideas, of two lives, that somehow are intertwined. Standing on the Capitol steps, Obama seems to be the embodiment of King’s famous dream, his dream finally realized. The dream by which King inspired America, almost right there, on nearby steps, those of the Lincoln Memorial. It seems, in both time and space, that this was a mystical kind of convergence, a mystical kind of homage.

As the ebullient and feverish crowds chanted and roared O!BA!MA! a succession of past presidents were streaming in to join the official swearing in, together with the echoes of the past — the granite monuments of Lincoln, Jefferson and Washington towering over the people of America who came to Washington.

It was like a present-day Mount Rushmore come to life.

Then the moment came when all the world’s eyes were upon Obama: the inaugural address. Although Obama is a talented orator, I was expecting more. Granted, this was not a lean address. It carried weight. Yet, something about it was, I don’t know — maybe bland. I am no speech writer and many better than myself can offer a critique, but I did not think Obama’s address was a masterpiece.

Only later when I read the speech in its entirety could I really appreciate how well crafted it was. While Obama was speaking, there was no phrase that clenched my gut or stayed in my memory. I didn’t catch any sought-after, wise words for the ages.

To be quite honest, I didn’t walk away with a clear sense of Obama’s plan for our country’s future.

I did appreciate Obama’s calling upon all Americans to serve and contribute their hard work to this country.

Now that he is President, this address had a different ring from those of Obama’s campaign — more cautious, I would say — still, the inaugural address sounded a lot like more of the same general talk about change.

I still can’t decide whether Obama is more the idealist or the pragmatist. I simply don’t have a clear feeling about what he stands for specifically, or how he will lead.

Which is fine. I want my president to act with effective action more than speak with inspiring words. I pray that Obama will succeed and be a strong and effective leader on domestic issues for this country, as well as on foreign policy. Only time will tell.

As historic as this election is, as historic as it is having a black president in office, the real historic development will be when we don’t think of Obama as a black president, but as a president just like every other. If he is seen as normal, human, flawed, making mistakes, just like all presidents do, and if we criticize him openly, then our country will indeed have made a historic shift.

Just voting someone in is not enough. I say this because the present Obama cult and frenzy makes me a tad nervous. Sometimes I feel like I can’t disagree or challenge something about Obama in public, lest my words be construed as racism.

It’s cute that there is the new ice cream flavor by Ben and Jerry’s “Yes Pecan” and the new drink “Hot Bama Ale,” but the media’s fawning adulation over Obama is over the top. Frankly, I think it is condescending.

I can think of a mistake or two Obama has made, but instead of legitimate criticism from the press, Obama’s unfounded comment or controversial decision has been totally overlooked.

For the press to cushion Obama and defend everything he does and says, as if his are the words of an oracle, is definitely not what generations of blacks prayed for. He will simply be receiving special treatment again, just in a different form. If that continues, this historic opportunity will have been in vain.

Let us be mindful of how truly historic we can make this election by embracing our new president Barack Obama with openness, honesty, maturity and integrity.