It was 42 years ago that I first came to the beautiful southern state of South Carolina. I lived in a small one bedroom, concrete brick house on the inland waterway. The property was maybe a half acre and we had our own boat dock. I don't remember meeting our neighbors or making any friends that weren't part of the Navy base. I was really new to the gypsy lifestyle in those days - and I was alone a great deal of the time. I had not spent my three years in therapy or even learned much about being a woman yet. I was still just a young woman with only one dream - to lead a good life, raise a nice family and travel to a lot of interesting places.
But I do remember casting crab nets with chicken parts tied to the bottom and then fighting the cat for the catch - sometimes lots of crabs and sometimes eels and bottom fish of some kind. I remember walks on the ocean beach in the moonlight, listening to the surf and the music from the nearby nightclubs. I remember working at Shoney's Big Boy and a jewelry store for a short time and preparing for our first overseas assignment - in Spain. It was in Charleston that I started bowling and golfing. And it was in Charleston that I started being more aware of the world around me.
That all sounds so peaceful and nostalgic, doesn't it? But this was 1966 and the south was in a lot of turmoil in those days. As a Navy family, even in a town with a large base like Charleston, we had to have Navy stickers on our car so that we would not be mistaken for "northern organizers" that came to the south to start Civil Rights protests. There were a lot of angry white southerners that would have loved an excuse to beat the daylights out us. I also saw a large contingent of black citizens that were frustrated and angry. Others were resigned and kind of sad and, to be honest, there were a great many that didn't seem to care one way or the other - they just worked hard, trying to educate their children and survive in the world in which they were living.
The white population didn't mix much with the blacks - and neither group seemed terribly upset about it. In some places, the black neighborhoods, schools, stores, etc. were just as nice as any in the white neighborhoods. But there were the "stereotypical" neighborhoods of rundown shacks, rusted out cars in the yards, etc. I was too young to care about the rest of the social stratas of the south. Being a western girl, raised to never see color, I had determined after a few months in Mississippi, Georgia and Louisiana that I did not belong in this part of the country. (That is another blog - another day). I was anxious to get overseas.
But Martin Luther King and peaceful (and not so peaceful) protesters were on all the newcasts regularly (this was the OLD days - we only had 3 news channels!) and despite all the anger, the backlash violence and the horrific rhetoric of the times, I lived in hope that reason would prevail, this country would come to it's senses and people in general would recognize the equality of men and women of any color.
Two years later, Martin Luther King was dead.
Forty-two years later, we have elected a black man as President of the United States.
America has grown and changed in the past 42 years, almost as I had hoped it would. I can't really say that color had no place in this election - it very certainly did! But it was not a barrier to most people and that is a good thing. The minority communities should not feel disenfranchised any more and color of skin should no longer be any kind of a consideration for anything - at least to the majority of Americans. Unless you belong to an oppressed minority, you may not totally understand the elation, the tears and the pride that went through the black community on election night. But there is no denying the historical nature of the event!
But it is a heavy load that Barack Obama must carry. So many people have put so much responsibility on him - and that is on top of the natural responsibility of being the "first black President". He is charged with reforming our very broken government, protecting us from terrorist attacks, reforming the financial system and pulling us out of one of the largest, government sponsored recessions ever to hit this country. This one man is being asked to reverse 60 years of government mistakes in domestic policies and organization, keep America safe and FREE in a world gone crazy, represent the USA in a world that doesn't appreciate the way we "spread the wealth" and "police the world" and efficiently and effectively run the business of one of the largest countries in the world. Oh yes, and add to that, secure a prosperous future for our upcoming generations while doing away with those "stereotypical" neighborhoods which still exist today!
The man needs our prayers! The entire government needs our prayers! Since a majority of Americans seem to have chosen the path of "semi-socialism" (expecting our government to fix every problem for us - finance, education, health, religious and social) then all of us need to be on our knees praying that every governing person, but especially the President-elect, be given strength, wisdom and protection.
I pray that wisdom will prevail over politics, morality over money and pride over power as this administration tackles the many problems we face. I pray that differing points of view will be reasonably presented and honestly considered. I pray that this country will not shame itself with violence and hatred as it has in the past and that President Obama will be able to serve his elected term with grace and honor - for the sake of every American of any color.
