Wednesday, November 05, 2008

What an extraordinary day

What an extraordinary night. A mixed race man, born at a time when such unions were constitutionally illegal in many American States, has become the 44th president of the USA.

And as Simon Shama noted in extraordinarily religious language, Obama's election atones for the sin of the founding fathers of the that nation who declared all men equal but owned black men and women as property.

And it's the fulfilment of Martin Luther King's dream that one day Americans would be judged on the quality of their character rather than the colour of their skin.

What an extraordinary night indeed.

Of course, obama is taking on the world's worst job, steering a country that's divided, bankrupt, sliding into recession and fighting unpopular wars in two countries. He needs to build a coalition of all the talents who will address the problems at home and reach out to allies and enemies alike across the world.

But it is a day of hope. Let's pray that those hopes are realised.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

An extraordinary night indeed. The world really needs it to be an extraordinary term too - one in which the USA becomes an equal to the rest of the world and truely offers its resources for the good of all.