A Promise Fulfilled

Thomas Jefferson, a slave owner, wrote this in a hot Philadelphia boarding room 232 years ago.

 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal..."

You know the rest.  Life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness - a greatest hits of enlightenment principles cribbed brilliantly from John Locke and others.

We call it the "Declaration of Independence".

But in point of fact it was more than just a simple declaration.  

It was a challenge.

It was a challenge from the New World to the Old which said loudly and clearly that the class system, the entrenched aristocratic order, the lack of opportunity for the ordinary man which had persisted for centuries in Europe would not cross the Atlantic with the colonists. 

That challenge was the beginning of America.

However this beautiful, lyrical assertion of equality was to be followed by over 100 years of slavery, segregation, lynchings, voter suppression, discrimination and other wrongs that continued well into my lifetime.

It was to say the least, a good idea delayed.

 

But last Tuesday something happened.   

Last Tuesday that aged, (some would say withering) 200 years long promise of equality was finally, resoundingly kept.  

I will never, ever forget where I was nor the size of the lump in my throat when I heard the announcer say, "This just in, Barack Obama is now the next President of the United States."

Barack Obama is of course an African-American man.  

I did not vote for him because he was such nor do I think did most people (which may say more about how far we've come than anything). 

No I voted for him for a myriad of reasons - because I got the sense he understands profoundly the deep problems this country is facing, because he seems to be a man of action and yet also quiet thoughtfulness and unhurried deliberation.  Because he appears to be possessed of both the political genius to win a campaign and more importantly the unwavering determination to bring people together once the campaign is over.

I voted for him most of all because I believe I glimpsed in him that rare, Lincoln-esque combination of characteristics so often diametrically opposed to each other - great confidence mixed with even greater humility.

But I cannot deny that in the aftermath of November 4th the fact that he we have finally elected an African-American as President has magnified my esteem and pride for this country tenfold.

Because now and for all time we have shown the World that indeed we meant and still mean what was written in that hopeful declaration those many years ago.

Thomas Jefferson is perhaps still most famous for his authorship of that document.  Yet when he lived he was known for many things.  

For being an incredible writer, a tremendous thinker and most of all an inveterate, incurable optimist.

He was known for his unceasing belief that man is good, that given the right set of circumstances and opportunities a utopian, truly egalitarian society could emerge from the wilderness that was America in 1776.

He was called naive and a dreamer in his day because he dared posit that we could someday establish a more perfect union where no matter how high or low-born one might be they would still have the chance to be something, to be someone, to make a difference, to reach their highest potential for mankind.

I see Obama as proof that Jefferson was right.