November 19. 2008
Page A4
O pinion
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Clarity of the Moment
Obama’s election defines our time
by A lgie G atewood
E very few g en era­
tions there co m e s an
event that fo r better or
w o rse tra n scen d s the
ordinary and is w ritten
indelibly in o u r hearts
and m inds. A t such tim es, o u r en ­
tire society - som etim es even the
w hole w orld - is transfixed, either
in horror or in jo y by the singular
pow er and clarity o f the m om ent.
Nov. 4 ,2 0 0 8 , w as one o f those
m om ents.
. C onsider the pivotal events o f
ourtim es:S ept. 11,2001; the fall of
the B erlin W all; the m oon landing;
the M arch on W ashington; the
assassinations o f Dr. King, and the
K ennedy brothers. G oing back
further - the end o f the Second
W orld W ar o r the attack on Pearl
Finding My Voice through a Ballot
A generation
coming to age
by J ordyn L ivingston -E squibel
I b eliev e that m y g en eratio n
w ill be the first to ag g ressiv ely
c h an g e the d irectio n this co u n try
is heading.
W e have for the m ost part been
raised by parents w ho w itnessed
o r participated in the largest call for
action thus far in A m erican his­
tory, the civil rights m ovem ent.
T o th in k that o ld er g en eratio n s
w ould w o n d er w hy m y g en era­
tion has beco m e so passio n ately
in v o lv ed seem s o b liv io u s to m e.
I hav e grow n up w atch in g ballo ts
b eing reco u n ted for w hat seem ed
like m o n th s, and p lanes crash in g
into bu ild in g s. T h is is the first
elec tio n I have been able to p a r­
ticip ate in.
A s I w atched the results scroll
across the screen and the m inutes
turn into hours, I felt m y heart
speeding up and m y palm s getting
sw eaty. T h e stage w as set for a
g ender and racially driven election
in the primary: A black man, a women
and H ispanic m an all running for
th e m ost p o w erfu l p o sitio n in
America.
My generation recognized from
the first tim e B arack O bam a w as on
O prah th at o ur voices had to be
heard.
V oting w as created as a p rivi­
lege that only so m e could p artici­
pate in, but now I feel my g en era­
tion has m ade voting a part o f w ho
you are. Politics has grow n from
som ething talked about every four
years to becom ing im bedded in my
culture and identity.
V oting is n o longer a private
thing but is now a base for w here
o n e ’s m orals stand.
Since o u r country w as attacked
on Sept. 11 ,2 0 0 1 1 have felt that my
g en eratio n has stepped up and
called fo r change. T he difference
betw een now and in the 1960scivil
rights m ovem ent is that m y g en ­
eration has decided to w ork from
the inside out.
W e d id not try and im peach
G eorge W . B u sh o rw a lk o n W ash­
ington; w e have decided to use the
first voting pow ers w e have as o ur
voice. W e w itnessed the m ost vi­
cious attack on o u r co u n try to date
and have had to live in fear o f w hat
is next to com e.
L iving in the dark about the
level o f security I have in m y ow n
house and being too y o u n g to feel
like I can m ake a differen ce has
m ade m e feel like m y co u n try is in
a state o f crisis.
B ecause o f this co n stan t state
o f fear, people in my generation
have tried to becom e as politically
aw are as possible. T h ere is not a
place on m y cam pus that I can talk
about politics w ithout som eone
from m y generation w anting to
share theiropinion. Id o not know
anyone my age w ho did not vote.
W hen I received m y ballot in
the m ail, I felt a since o f em p o w ­
erm en t like I have never felt be­
fore.
I alw ays heard that m y voice
cou n ted but I have never felt like
I could m ake a difference. T his
election has proved, as B arack
O b am a said, that my generation,
the people from 18 to 25, have a
big im pact on how this country is
going to be run.
T h e fact that m y generation
w as a part o f electing the first
black president says a lot about
w hat o ur agenda is'and how we
see this country em erging.
I feel as though as m y country
¡scorning to age, that I am com ing
o f age as well and so is my entire
g eneration.
Jordyn Livingston-Esquibel
is student at Portland State Uni­
versity.
A Shift in Our Politics and Priorities
Celebrating a
historic victory
by R ep . C arolyn C .
K ilpatrick
A m erica is w itnessing an un­
im aginable trium ph. Sen. B arack
O bam a has been elected to serve
as 44th President o f the U nited
States o f A m erica and the first
A frican A m erican to g uide o ur
nation.
T his m onum ental victory repre­
sents a significan t shift in o u r
nation’s politics and priorities. It
signals that w e have m ade great
strides in breaking dow n racial and
cultural barriers that have h istori­
cally paralyzed the full participa­
tion o f all A m ericans.
N ow , little boys and girls across
the country can truly dream w ith ­
out lim itations and actualize the
true prom ise o f this great land.
W hen a young child o f co lo r as­
pires to one day be the President o f
education and health care system s
w e c a n a s s u re along w ith protecting A m erican
them. Yes, youean! liberties both at hom e and abroad,
am assed great support and helped
l the U nited States,
K
L’
Pl
clinch the election.
Principally, Senator O b am a ral­
By issuing the
c la r io n c a ll o f
change. President­
When a young child o f color aspires
to one day be the President o f the United
States, we can assure them, Yes, you can!
elect B arack O b a m a 's m essage
resonated with A m erican voters
from the ch an n els o f cyberspace,
th e c o r n f ie l d s o f Io w a , th e
everglades o f Florida to the peaks
ofV irginia.
For21 m onths, he m obilized our
ho p es for a stro n g er and m ore
unified A m erica by concisely ar­
ticulating his plan to m ake the
w orking class central to an e co ­
nom ic recovery plan. His sensible
strategy for revam ping our nation’s
lied broad coalitions by underscor­
ing the im portance o f inclusion,
w hile d ebunking divisive and d e­
structive devices.
T he O b am a cam p aig n ’success-
fully ex p an d ed the electorate, set
fundraising records, encouraged
early voting and strategically e n ­
gaged o v er 4 0 m illion youth voters
from all across the country. His
vision for a new A m erica has tran­
scended tim e and place.
O n Jan. 20, when President-elect
B arack O bam a stands w ith his
fam ily and raises his right hand
and places his left on the Bible, he
w ill take his G od-ordered place in
history as the 44th President o f
the U nited States o f A m erica.
M em bers o f the C ongressional
B lack C aucusareextrem cly proud
and hum bled by this aw esom e
accom plishm ent. W e look forward
to w orking w ith President-Elect
O b a m a to b u ild a s tro n g e r,
h ealthier and m ore ju st A m erica.
W e are honored to call Presi­
dent-E lect B arack O bam a, our
brother, o ur colleague, o u r advo­
cate and soon Mr. President. W e
e x te n d o u r co n g ra tu la tio n s to
M ich elle, and th e ir d a u g h ters
M alia and Sasha. M ay G od c o n ­
tinue to bless them as w e m ove
forw ard aso n e nation, indivisible,
w ith liberty and ju stice for all.
Carolyn C. Kilpatrick, D-
Mich., is chairwoman o f the Con­
gressional Black Caucus.
H arbor - there are the m om ents
that define o u r tim es, events that
by their sheer cultural m ass cause
us to re-evaluate o u r place in the
w orld. T hey form the lens through
w hich w e view everything that
com es after.
lentingly.
W ith each passing gen ­
eration, the circle o f equals
has grow n. W e abolished
slavery and banished Jim
Crow . W e extended the right
to vote to all adult A m eri­
cans, regardless o f race, creed,
color, o r gender. W e have actively
w orked to elevate people from non­
m ainstream com m unities into the
realm s o f business, governm ent,
and education.
B ut as clearly as w e can see the
progress w e have m ade, w e can
ju st as plainly see the w ork that
rem ains to be done. W om en still
earn less than m en for doing the
sam e w ork. P e o p le o f co lo r are still
o v errepresented in o u r prisons,
u n derrepresented in o u r board-
room s, and m ore likely to drop out
o f school. A vast underclass still
labors, som etim es illegally, at the
jo b s that “real” A m ericans w o n ’t
do. T o o m uch w ealth is still co n ­
centrated in the hands that- have
controlled it for centuries.
S om etim es, though, a m om ent
Think o f it f A man from humble
beginnings, the son o f a black father from
Kenya and a white mother from Kansas,
has taken his place among the great.
F or better o r w orse, everyone
w ho lived through those m om ents
rem em bers exactly w here he or she
w as and exactly w hat he o r she w as
doing. So brightly are these events
seared in o u r m em ories that w ith­
out m uch effort it is easy to su m ­
m on the feeling o f elation o r o f
dread that accom panied them .
N ov. 4 ,2 0 0 8 , w as one o f those
com es along w here the scales drop
from o u r collective eyes and w e see
ju s t how close at hand Dr. K ing’s
d ream really is. T h e blood, toil,
tears and sw eat sacrificed by g en­
erations past and present are sud­
denly redeem ed and it is revealed
to us in blinding synchronicity
how far w e have com e.
N ov. 4 ,2 0 0 8 , w as on e o f those
m om ents.
U nlike, say, being G erm an, A f­
rican, o r Japanese, being an A m eri­
m om ents.
W e, the A m erican people, have
elected a president nam ed B arack
H ussein O bam a!
T h in k o f it! A m an from hum ble
beginnings, the son o f a black fa­
ther from K enyaandaw hite m other
from K ansas, has taken his place
am ong the great. A m an w ho forhis
entire life em braced education and
hard w ork as the foundation o f his
success. A m an w ho through his
ow n m erit and enterprise rose to
attend H arvard L aw - w here he
w a s n a m e d p re s id e n t o f T h e
H arvard Law R eview - assum ed a
prestigious professorship — and
can has alw ays been m ore about
an idea than about w here your
ancestors cam e from o r w hat your
last nam e might be. Being an A m eri­
can m eans that you can be ju d g ed
not by w hat fam ily o r social class
y o u ’re bom into, but by w hat you
say and accom plish. B eing an
A m erican m ean s that you are
bound only by the lim its you place
on yourself. O r so w e have been
told, generation after generation.
T here are those o f us, how ever,
w ho know from experience that the
id eao fb ein g an A m erican is som e­
thing that h asn ’t alw ays been e x ­
ten d ed to ev ery o n e. T h ere are
those o f us w ho rem em ber a tim e
w h en th e d iffe re n c é b e tw e e n
m arginalized A m ericans and “real"
A m ericans w as as plain as the
“ W hites O n ly ” sign abo v e the
door. T rag ically , there are m any o f
us w ho feel that difference still.
It could be said w ith som e accu­
racy that o ne o f the central narra­
ti v e so f the A m erican experience is
the struggle to live up to the tran­
scendent ideals enshrined by thè
Founders, to ensure that the idea
o f being A m erican applies equally
to everyone. A nd to our credit, we
have w aged that struggle unre­
ran successfully for state and na­
tional governm ent.
A m an w ho endured the bi le and
vitriol o f an em bittered, declining
racist e sta b lish m e n t, w ho w as
sham efully called a terrorist, w hose
ch aracter w as subjected to every
im aginable sm ear-h is middle name
is H ussein! - a scen d ed to the
W hite H ouse on the shoulders o f
his fellow A m ericans.
H is fellow A m e ric a n s-a ll o f us,
together.
N ov. 4 ,2 0 0 8 , w as on e o f those
m om ents and the jo y o f it show s no
sign o f fading.
,
Algie Gatewood is president o f
Portland Community College's
Cascade Campus.
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