Last night I watched history made. Last night I saw the promise of America fulfilled. Last night I saw a people raised from the depths of depression to the pinnacle of pride. Last night I saw the street interview that usually causes the hair on the back of my neck to stand up as white reporters seem to find the most ignorant black person in the crowd to interview get the surprise of their lives as normally unintelligible speech turned to undaunted eloquence. Last night I saw and I experienced my own rebirth. I may not be as old as some but I have dealt with my own share of racism. I have lived from Miami to Detroit, from Topeka to Phoenix, from Manchester to Richmond and so many points in between and in so many I have felt the heavy hand of racism. From the old white bank teller with 5 pounds of pancake makeup on her face and a bouffant hairdo from 1965 in Hoover AL, who decided a young black man should not be able to write a $3000 check on a starter check and openly tried to disrespect and eventually used the “N” word with me to the police in Monroe, LA who openly showed contempt for the black prisoners but gave me preferential treatment because they thought I was “white.” I have experienced the backwoods attitudes of Dillon and Sumter, SC, to the racial profiling of Topeka KS, Richmond, VA and New Orleans, LA. As a child I heard the hushed comments from “white’ women in the stores about how well behaved I, and later my brother and I were for “colored” children.

I have been the only or one of the only blacks in so many instances. From Junior High School forward I was never in class with the people in my own neighborhood or even many blacks. The same three or four black girls were my only company from class to class and year to year outside of choir and gym because it was not cool to be too smart. I experienced the great division that separates so many of us as I became a National Merit Scholarship Semi-Finalist and because my “white” guidance counselor had no idea of what to tell a “black” student who wanted to go to college, I saw an opportunity few achieve slip by me. In fact I was so alienated from my own kind through jr and sr high school that I chose to attend an HBCU, one of my biggest mistakes, for all the wrong reasons and because I so wanted to belong. Even there though I was looked on as an outsider because I was too something, too light complected, too fat, too smart, too whatever. I experienced the incredulous reaction of my own peers when they found out that I had received college credit before ever taking a class and in the same breath I experienced the petty betrayal of so called educated black instructors who were more concerned with building their own egos than they ever were in helping students. At work from the mid 80s on I struggled as the only black or one of just a few in most of my assignments. When I worked as the Secretary of HUD’s LAN Administrator I was the only black on the team. When I worked for the US Senate and The Congressional Support Teams I was one of two or three blacks. As a project Leader for the RTC I was the only black and when I worked for the AEC I was the only black on my team. This pattern has held true even until today. Outside of the majority American whites that still make-up the bulk of the people on most contracts, even newly displaced Europeans from the break-up of the USSR are more plentiful most of the time than “Black” Americans. Among the minorities I work with foreign born Africans, Middle Easterners and Asians dominate the numbers on the contracts I usually am a part of, with one or two black American males and three or four black American females being the norm on larger projects and one or two period being the norm on smaller ones. I have worked for giants in the industry such as American Express and been a minority amongst minorities. I have been the only American, much less black American on contracts dominated by Middle Eastern H1B visa holders. I have managed contracts of offshore groups in Banglore, Dubai, and other places while watching Americans be put out of work. Last night I hope I saw all that end. Last night I hope was the beginning of a re-dedication to American principles and American workers and the end to tax breaks for people who import cheap labor or export jobs from the US.

Last night I saw and felt a lot of what I consider problems slip away from the face of America. I saw an intelligent Ivy League educated “black’ man become the next President of the United States of America and today I heard from many, many sources that it is no longer a bad thing to be smart. Last night I saw Jesse Jackson, and Oprah Winfrey cry tears of joy at the confirmation of Barack Obama as the 44^th President elect of the USA. I listened today as countless interviews with what I consider to some degree to be media clowns and circus performers who typify the absolute worse stereotypes that “White” America and others have of us, take off their jester costumes and respectfully address the fact that for the first time in our lives we can truly and truthfully without reservation tell our children, “You can be anything you want to be if you work hard enough,” Racism may not be dead in America yet, as the interview with the old redneck just North of Biloxi, MS showed when he said, “I don’t believe it a nigger is going to the white house.” The fact that CNN bleeped the interview and then pulled it immediately does however give me hope that racism to a large degree may be on its last legs even as entrenched as those last legs are. The fact that they aired the interview at least once does however show that the sensationalism of racial conflict and the associated foul and demeaning rhetoric that currently flows on the internet blogs and abounds with racial epithets and slurs concerning everything from Obama’s parentage to his wife and children’s’ place being somewhere other than the “White House” is still protected by our right to free speech and illustrates the attitudes of many racially prejudiced people here in the US still.

Last night I saw my own dreams realized and I pray that Barack remains safe and has the opportunity to really start and commit real change in the US. Barack will be in my prayers daily and my hopes as well. His presidency will define for many of us a new beginning and a new level of professionalism as well as personal achievement. Obama will represent to many a new attitude in America and I can only pray that we live up to it in terms of personal respect and opportunity. Last night I saw an almost united America and I saw hope for the future of it. Last night I saw blacks who have never had much to be proud of beam with pride over the accomplishments of a single man. Last night I saw the culmination of the efforts of thousands of young people, legions of older people, a multitude of Baby Boomers, coalitions of a vast array of supporters and many racial groups. Last night I saw America say enough of partisan politics and business as usual. Last night I saw America turn its cheek to mediocrity and say an intelligent black man had worth. Last night I saw America turn its back on ignorance and absurdity and embrace education and achievement. Last night I saw and I felt what was for me the first time in my lifetime genuine camaraderie between blacks and whites. Last night I saw a large percentage of “white’ America help realize a greater “dream” for not only blacks but all of America. Last night I saw a “New America” born. Last night I saw hope reborn to all of us, Black, White, Hispanic, Asian, American Indian, in fact all Americans no matter their ancestral background. Last night I saw the greatness of America and the fulfillment of a promise. Last night for the first time in my life I had personal pride in my country and I was truly proud to be an American. With all that in mind, and historically, the significance of this moment I pray we march steadfastly into the future. Good Luck to us all. Not just “Black” America, or “White” America, or “Latino” America but to “ALL” America! God Bless us all!