Monday, January 19, 2009

REFLECTIONS OF A VERY WHITE WOMAN

I titled this post as 'Reflections of a very white woman' not to draw attention to myself. Just to make a point. Tomorrow will mark the beginning of a very incredible time in American History - a time I am extremely honored to be able to witness.

As a white female child I never quite understood what all the fuss was about.  I was born in 1971 and all of this history - well, it really just seemed so distant - the riots, the segregation, the complete and total predjudism for our African American friends and family members (although back then - I imagine that there were too many whites who counted the African Americans as their 'friends' - sad but probably true.) But, as I grew older I learned - that this past, this very ugly and shameful American past, was really just around the corner - was really just yesterday.

It was only about 55 years ago that Rosa Parks was arrested during the Montgomery Bus Boycott in 1955.   All because she refused to give up her bus seat to a white male!  This would never happen now - at least in most parts of our world we live in today.

I am so overly excited that tomorrow our county finally, yes finally will be moving on - passing over into an era of intelligence and acceptance. An era where, I hope, people will be honored for their achievements, accomplishments and their wisdom. The skin color and differences we have should be celebrated and respected but not be the main basis for who we are. We are all- really - just us - similar in so many ways - from our bone structure down to our basic cellular making - we are THE SAME! It is our hair, our skin, our thoughts and beliefs, our smiles, our styles that make us different from each other. But it is what we do and what we believe that determines who we truly are.  It is this that will be left for all to remember.

So regardless of your vote - you must still be smiling tonight. As a nation we have come so very far. This is a time to record, to twitter, to blog, to vlog and to TiVO. This is a first and I feel so very blessed to be a part of it. So plug in your power cables and prepare yourself for a rockin' fantastic day of history.

God be with you President Obama. We are all behind you and we know you will do your best to lead this find nation once again to greatness.

In ending - while I once did see myself as a very white girl - so removed from the black and white social struggle (I grew up in So Cal and really was not very exposed - pretty much embarrassed to say that I was sheltered from the shadows of our history). I now see how much smaller a world this place that we call "home" really is.  We are all each others brothers and sisters and daughters and sons. We must rally together with our new president to make this nation and this word a much better place. What else do we have if not that?

Oh, and for those of you who may be wondering - my vote was for Barack.  Today I am a very, very proud American.  

Thank you for reading! 
Cindy

5 comments:

Renee Simmons said...

Perfectly said!!! Sending hugs & more smiles!

Erinjeany said...

What a wonderful post! "So regardless of your vote - you must still be smiling tonight. As a nation we have come so very far. This is a time to record, to twitter, to blog, to vlog and to TiVO. This is a first and I feel so very blessed to be a part of it. So plug in your power cables and prepare yourself for a rockin' fantastic day of history." - I don't think I have heard anyone say it better! It is SO important that we as a nation really see what a monumental step this is. Not only acknowledge it, but be proud of it. I wrote a similar post on this and the importance of teaching patriotism to our children. This is also a great way to teach our children about equality. My son won't grow up in a world where blacks and whites seem so different, but there is still so much racism and bigotry in the world, it is events like this that will help us to reinforce that color does not matter.

The biggest problem I see is that parents who voted against Obama or are racist themselves are setting a example for their children. We cannot move past racism until there is more tolerance. You don't have to LIKE Obama, you don't even have to LIKE blacks, BUT you don't need to let your children know that. Don't you think they deserve to form their own opinions?

I was in the hospital having my son and was unable to vote, so which way I went does not matter. What matters is as my son grows over the next years he will see that our family loves our country and everyone in it, despite race.

Here's to Patriotism, Equality, and a new beginning for our great country!

My Post: http://ejsmomej.blogspot.com/2009/01/patriotism.html

~Erin
Twitter: @erinjeany
ejsmomej[at]gmail[dot]com
http://ejsmomej.blogspot.com/

Jingle said...

Thank you for sharing your thoughts. I am so excited and so very white, too! LOL! Plus, to make matters worse, I am younger, so I don't remember the worst of it, but I still see the remnants now, so I am excited to see this wonderful, historical event!

Suz Broughton said...

Great post! Really well thought-out and written. Just bouncing around blogs and found you.
I'm in OC as well. I love it too!

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