How long a wait was that!

I was watching the inauguration of President Obama with several score students this noon. And I noticed a strange expression on the faces of the African-Americans in the crowd, caught by the Fox cameramen. It was a more exalted expression than I have seen before, even in comparison to the exaltation one sees during faith rallies, or gospel singing. It struck me that something very new was happening. In spite of all the euphoria following the elections, it had failed to come home to me that Obama's success would mean so much to America.

Symbolically, of course, it has meant something important. But this was more than an abstract victory. Perhaps it is because for wealthy white Americans, keeping America viable has not been an issue. They needed to be prosperous, certainly, but just as many upper-middle-class Americans are really not anxious about rising sea levels, except as something that erodes the value of recreational beach-front property, so to them, America going to the economic toilet is not something fearful. It certainly is something very annoying. But wealthy white Americans can always relocate, anywhere from Switzerland to Brazil. American dollars are still mostly good.

In contrast, the African American nation is utterly trapped here. This is their boat. If America sinks, they sink with it. All of the rest of us sink with it, but only some of us really know this. Perhaps this moment is a humbling one for those who have traditionally considered the White House to be their exclusive domain. But humiliation was an emotion singularly lacking in the festivities today on the Capitol steps. There was optimism, there was pride, there was gravity and consciousness of responsibility. There was stern assessment. There was greeting to the foreign nations of the world, not with the usual arrogance, but with a more collegial tone. There were promises, and there were challenges. There was defiance. But there was no humiliation. It is a wonderful beginning!

Arch

[Added later:]
It becomes clear that to some people, Obama's great successful 8 years was a slap in the face.  We observe this with terrible disappointment.  We note, with shock and awe, that some of our values are not shared, and were never shared, with certain of our fellow-citizens.  Without shared values---shared at least to some degree---there can never be a comfortable government.  And to think that while we delighted in eight years of mostly rational thinking from the Executive Branch, a large minority (thankfully it is just a large minority) was having its guts eaten by the existence of a black liberal in the White House.  Today, I am sorrowful and distressed at the dysfunction of the Executive Branch (and all of Washington, really), but I'm not getting an ulcer.  Some people are, but not me.  As Mano Singham has said, perhaps we're a nation of secret socialists. --Arch