Forgive my Ignorance

Being a white man from Maine, I had no idea of the impact that Barack Obama's Presidential election victory would have on people, particularly on African-Americans. I had no idea how much it would mean to blacks to have a black man elected President. Now, seeing the reaction of so many people, both black and white, but particularly black, on the news, in magazines and newspapers and on the Internet, makes me wonder where I have been. It makes me see that I was missing something.

I though I understood the significance of having an African-American man elected President. May times over the years, I have had conversations with my students at school about how far overdue this country was in elected an African-American or a woman to the position of President. Yet, I guess I grossly underestimated how much of an impact this would have on the African-American community. Where was I?

To see Jessie Jackson openly weeping on television, to see Oprah Winfrey's reaction on her show the next day, to see Condeleezza Rice interviewed, and to hear many black people interviewed on television sent chills down my spine. But the clincher was seeing Oprah interview Will Smith talk about how much it meant to him, personally. Where was I?

I can partly blame it on where I live. I live in Maine, in an area that is 99% white. In school, I can count on one hand how many black students I have in class each year, many years I have had just one, or sometimes none. We have no African-Americans on our teaching staff. There are no black people in my neighborhood. But, this is no excuse.

How could I not see how important it is to see an African-American elected President? How could I not see how important this is to a people who were enslaved for generations less than 150 years ago? How could I not see how special this would be to a people who only gained their basic civil rights 40 years ago? How could I not see? Am I blind?

In hindsight, I understand just how important this is. Many people interviewed said they did not think they would see this in their lifetime. I think I am starting to understand. The only thing I can relate this to is when the Red Sox won the World Series in 2004 after 86 years of coming oh so close. And yet, this comparison is not even close. It's probably insulting to African-Americans to even say it might compare. But I know how much the Red Sox winning meant to me. It brought me to tears. It was something I thought I would never see. Now, magnify that a thousand-fold and you might get close.

My ignorance is unforgivable. Hopefully my eyes have begun to open.