INCHOATE THOUGHTS
Hi,
The day after the presidential election,
one of my senior thesis students came to see me to discuss the progress of her
historical research. She had campaigned door-to-door with other Harvard
students in New Hampshire and Pennsylvania. She was wearing a T-shirt
emblazoned with a political slogan I had not seen before. She explained that
her mother had made it for her, proud of her daughter’s political activity, and
of her heritage as a person of Hibernian and African American parentage. “BLACK
IRISH FOR O’BAMA” it read.
Many
of us are the result of the affections of people of different origins for one
another. Now we are to have a president who exemplifies this. He is also a man
who gives every indication that he will bring a quality to the office that has
been missing for the better part of the last sixteen years: dignity.
In
January, Barack Obama takes
on a next to impossible job at a foully difficult time; but I voted for him,
and to note that I wish him well is an understatement. In this election, we
have communally taken a step towards the expiation of our gross national shame.
We still have a long way to go.
Ever,
Ivan