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This is the story of my father and my son and healing the racial divide one person at a time. I really don't share much about my personal life here, but this election has transformed my family in an amazing way and I just wanted to share it. I hope you will take the time to read about my experience as it means so much to me.
First, some background to put this transcendent moment in my family's history and in our nation's history in context. My father, now 83, grew up in the days of segregation. Although he spent his entire life just outside of Chicago and not the deep South, the racism he internalized was a constant in his life, from the battlefields in World War II to the steel mills where he toiled. Like many in this area, his racism was never overt or hateful, just a steadfast belief that "those people" were different and should remain in a separate space in society.
We lived in an all-white, suburban community. I had never even interacted with a person of color until I went away to college and came to the obvious conclusion -- we're all just people trying to make our way through life.
It was there where I met my son's father, an African-American man several years younger than me. There was no great love there, simply two people in a casual relationship. Just as I was getting set to graduate, he was just starting his college career. When I got pregnant and opted not to terminate it, we went our separate ways. This story could quickly veer off course here, but suffice to say, my practicing Catholic parents were less than pleased that the first college graduate in the family was having a baby -- that the father was African-American was the crushing blow to them.
After many tears, much anger and a period of being shut out of the family, we made amends on the day my parents accidentally ran into my son and I about five months later. They peered into the baby carrier and got lost in his innocent brown eyes, the "monster" that they had created out of this admittedly ill-timed pregnancy was just a beautiful, innocent baby and their first grandchild.
Fast-forward to the present day. We are just the typical American family, albeit even more mixed now as my brother's wife brought two more biracial children she had from a previous relationship into the fold. The scales have fallen from my father's eyes and his world has moved beyond black and white. When primary season rolled around, my father was in the hospital and one day while at his bedside, talk turned to his choice of candidate.
After all that had transpired through the past two decades, I guess I shouldn't have been surprised when he said he wanted to vote for Obama, but I was. After all, he certainly didn't fit the typical Obama demographic.
I can't tell you how proud I was when my husband drove him to the polls just days after he was released from the hospital to help him cast his ballot. It makes the tears well up just thinking about it today.
My son, who will turn 23 next week, had never voted in his life. Believe me, it was not from a lack of pushing from this politically active mom. Since 2000, he has seen me march, watched me campaign, and often had to remind me to calm down as I shouted obscenities at the TV. He understood the political process and seen firsthand examples of democracy in action. Yet, he remained uninvolved, opting to sit on the sidelines. That is until now.
I'm not sure when Obama first sparked his interest, but about a week before the primary he started asking about where he was supposed to go to cast his ballot. "You're voting?" I asked, trying to contain my excitement. "Can I ask who you're voting for?" His answer was short. "Obama, of course."
Just like my father, and millions of other voters across the country, my son sensed that Obama was not your average politician, that he brought a new and much-needed perspective to the political landscape. The message of hope and change resonated deep within them and moved them to action, out of their comfort zones. That is exactly what a true leader does -- inspire and motivate, allow people to see the world as it could be and spur them to help shape that vision for a better future.
This is my family's story, one that is surely being repeated with unique variations across the country. In the end, this is how we end racism. This is how we all come together as a nation -- one heart, one family at a time. This is how we heal the divisions among us. This is how we change the world.
And it is by electing Barack Obama president of the United States of America that we finally get to see what is on the other side of the mountain top.
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