A New Era

Let’s start with the obvious. Lastnight America took an historic and tremendous step in electing the first African-American President of the United States. No matter where you fall on the poltical spectrum the symbolism of this event is deep and moving, especially when considering our past.

It was 54 years ago in Brown v. Board of Education the U.S. Supreme Court declared “separate but equal” unlawful and it set a precedent for future cases which desegregated other public facilities. After Rosa Parks was arrested in 1955 for refusing to let a white passenger take her seat on a Montgomery, AL bus, African Americans began a prolonged boycott of the bus company by walking or carpooling for more than a year.

When four African-American college students placed an order at a "whites only" lunch counter in Greensboro, NC, in 1960, they sparked acts of civil disobedience in many other cities. And it was just 45 years ago Dr. Martin Luther King spoke on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial, sharing his dream that his “children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.”

And now we begin a new era where we entrust our future to a 47-year old African-American man. Our election yesterday is one more milestone in a long struggle for civil rights and it will continue to reverberate for a long time to come, as it should.