A Dream Come True

Dr. Martin Luther King set the standard for when we could know that the dream he had for our country had been realized: "I have a dream that my four children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." At lest one of his children was at Ebenezar Baptist Church last night, November 4, when the nation chose a new President on the basis of his character, not the color of his skin. That, it seems to me, is what should make the nation jubilent and the world appreciative, finally, of the American electorate.

President-elect Obama demonstrated that his character is good enough to lead the nation by guiding his election campaign on the high road of reasoned and thoughtful policies while avoiding what even many democrats demanded: the negative campaign.

But other dreams were realized as well, causing more than just the MLK admirers to enjoy the evening. Some have been dreaming of having a president who is intelligent, articulate and really compassionate. For eight years we have suffered through one who is not any of these things. Now, we believe that actual dialogue on issues is possible,and, therefore, that the nation will not be subjected to the unreasonable whims or neurotically driven urges of immature adults who believe that the nation belongs to them to do with as they please.

More importantly, the reasoned nature of Obama's approach to solving problems is, I believe, deeply connected to and rooted in the kind of profound empathy for the suffering ones of humanity that holds within it the possibility that reason will be on the side of the true development of humanity, not just the short term need to be successful.

There is another dream that could come true that does not flow only from the nature of Obama as a person or politician, but from the symbolism of what his electoral victory means in terms of demonstrating where the nation is in regard to to its vision for the future. According to all the data, the oldest generation was the most supportive of McClain. Symbolically, McClain was the perfect representative of what is sometimes called "the greatest generation" (from Brokaw's book, however mistaken this nomeclature might be). My generation (the next one down in age) was split, a cause of disappointment for me - I thought our 60s training would have brought us to a more enlightened place in life. The generations below - the younger folks - all were dramatically in support of Obama who is the one who came with the idea of change (Obama did actually begin this theme and then Hillary and then McCalin adopted it), whose background is extremely out of the norm for presidential candidates and whose manner of being is extremely at odds with the most recently elected presidents. This could be a sign that the nation is ready to redefine what it values, how it perceives itself in the world and where it would like to go. So, maybe we will not have to labor under the heavy hand of those who defined patriotism by the desire to fight a war; or national security by the desire to establish global hegemony; or success as only monetary and a sound economy only in terms of how many millionaires there are.

The Obama victory holds forth the promise that we can begin to redefine the dream we have of what we might be as a nation for the future and that this reformation will happen as the result of a dialogue and an interaction not just confined to the elite, but open to all the generations, all the reces, men and women. If this were to be the case, the election of Obama could signal the beginning of a new age of dreaming that would go beyond what even Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. could have imagined. If this were to be true and the new dream would articulate how a nation such as ours could use its wealth for social justice in the global community and in support of peace around the world and proper care of the earth and all its resources, then I would have to change the URL for this site from www.empirefalling.blogspot.com to www.newworldcoming.blogspot.com. It is way too early to make the change, but one can always hope.