A New Day

So I watched the Presidential Inauguration today, and it got me thinking.

I cannot imagine - I mean, I can empathize, maybe even sympathize, but not actually know - what today truly meant to the black community. During the run-up to the election, the fact that Obama is a black man never really played much in how I viewed him or the race for the Presidency. I was far more concerned with his experience, proposed policies, and most of all his (poor) choice of Vice President.

Today, though - especially coming on the heels of yesterday's holiday observance - I really couldn't help but give it some thought.

While he gave his speech on television, I looked carefully at the huddled masses of humanity stretching from the steps of the Capitol to the Lincoln Memorial and beyond, braced against the wind and cold... yet silent and attentive to every word. I saw the faces of regular, everyday people who can remember what it was like living in America during the peak years of the Civil Rights Movement and beyond. People who wouldn't have been able to ride the same bus or drink from the same water fountain as "white folks". People who weren't allowed until the 1940s to serve their country willingly by putting on a uniform and going overseas during a time of war, as I have... unless it was to be a ship's steward or Admiral's messman. Many millions of these people have raised children to adulthood, bought homes, and generally worked their asses off every day for decades in order to accomplish their dreams. In a great measure, they've been able to succeed - even if it's no more than having food on the table, a roof over their heads, a family they can be proud of, and a few bucks in their pocket at the end of the day. In my book, that's doing damn well by anyone's standards.

Today, though, meant something more to them. What I've taken for granted for years, they witnessed today with their own eyes: the highest office in government, and one of the most powerful and prestigious in the world, is now held ably by a black man. And rightly, justly so.

I've never been one to feel obligated somehow by the ignorance and mistakes of the past; to feel like I owe a debt to blacks or anyone else who has been discriminated against for hundreds - HUNDREDS - of years by whites in America. Outraged, certainly. Embarrassed, even. I do, however, like to think that I'm trying now, in every way I can, to disregard what has happened in centuries past (while being yet mindful of it) and at the same time move forward by doing my part to ensure it never happens again. I give my best efforts daily to be fair, firm, and honest in my dealings everyone I meet. I will teach those who emulate me - children someday, if that's in the cards - to do the same. I will, short of raising my hand against someone (though goddamn, that's tempting sometimes!) do all I can to demand that this same standard be met and enforced by my peers, seniors and subordinates.

When I think of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., I like to think that he would be pleased with that mindset coming from an average white boy from Georgia nowadays. His legacy needs no explanation, his accomplishments speak for themselves, true enough... but for any of us to not take time at LEAST once a year to pause and remember what he worked so hard for his entire life would be doing a disservice to ourselves and our nation. Equality for all Americans, fair dealings with everyone in this nation and abroad, a government that does not discriminate, and the perseverance, fortitude and courage to take a stand for it all without violence - these were his greatest dreams and hopes for all Americans.

We got a step closer today when Obama became the 44th President of the United States. I'm not sure anyone could script a more fitting day than today to remember Dr. King and his teachings. This struggle is by no means over, and we as a nation have much to identify and address strictly on the issue of racism. I do admit, though - and I honestly did not see this coming - that I can appreciate how much more it means to those faces I saw on TV today. I am thrilled and proud that every American could see this happen today... and there's still no way for me to fully comprehend how much more special and thrilling it is for black people in this nation and around the world to see Obama in office.

As with most defining, crucial aspects of life and philosophy, I think of it in terms I can take to heart. Let's face it, folks: at the end of the day, it always comes back to the military with me. So let's take a moment, shall we?

Tuskegee Airmen. Montford Point Marines. The Red Ball Express. Buffalo Soldiers.
These are men that I will always respect, admire, and look up to for their selfless service... moreso because of all they had to overcome simply to serve their nation, even at great peril to themselves in most instances. All of these men fought through more bullshit than I can even imagine, some simply to lay down their very lives for their brothers and their nation.

I might not have a clue what it's like to be a black man in America today who lived through just the last forty of fifty years of struggle and outright discrimination. But I GET what these soldiers, airmen, sailors, and Marines have done for this nation, and the sacrifices they've made. I'm eternally grateful for each and every one of them, because I stand today on the shoulders of these giants among men, carrying on a tradition of martial service as best I can.

God knows how much hard work Obama has in front of him. Everything else aside, I fervently hope the man is up to the task, and will someday become one of those same giants that every American will be proud of for all time.

I feel in my heart that we as a nation deserve it.

Quotations of the day - think like a Marine before reading:

"An individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity."

"A man who won't die for something is not fit to live."

- both from Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.