I tend not to write about politics because a) I don’t really like political discussions, as one cannot change another person’s opinion, anyway, and b) I would rather remain neutral on issues so as to not push away potential customers. But you know what? Forget that. I want to declare from the rooftops, from everywhere and to everybody:
Thank goodness Barack Obama has been elected!
What a historic victory for all Americans…. no, not just for African Americans or liberal Americans, but for all Americans. His triumph is our triumph. He is the new face of the next generations: multi-cultural, open-minded, educated, eloquent. He’s a real American, and that makes you and me real Americans, too. His election has redefined “Americaness” in that the term will no longer be monopolized by over-anxious, racist, and anti-intellectual fundamentalists who cannot see the forest for the trees.
Texas and Oklahoma, with a few notable exceptions, voted overwhelmingly for John McCain. And that’s cool, because I like John McCain. I liked him in 2000, and would have voted for him had he not been overrun by the Rove-Cheney machine. I believe that soon, John McCain will return to his populist roots and fight for what is right, not to garner votes in order to appeal to the radical fringe members of his party.
What bothers me about Texas and Oklahoma is that some, if not most, voters voted for McCain because he was white. They have this irrational fear – and it’s been substantiated by reports in the Fort Worth Star Telgram (and here and here)- that they believe an Obama presidency will lead to a race war, or to the banning of guns, or to a massive re-distribution of their incomes to people on welfare, even though for the vast majority of folks, Obama’s plans (if they make it through Congress) will actually benefit them.
Texas and Oklahoma have a history of racism and bigotry. This irrationality has come to define our whole region, which is embarrassing and so, so regrettable. Paris, TX, the town where I was born, once held spectacle lynchings at the railroad depot and the county fairgrounds. In 1996, the KKK hosted a rally here, and just this past year, a black man was dragged to death in what may, or may not, have been a racially motivated attack. Add to that the horrors of what occurred in Jasper, during the Tulsa race riots, and in the countless towns – Dallas, Sherman, Ardmore Waco- where lynchings took place, and yet no historical marker tells us about them.
It’s time for the racist legacy to end, because I want to point out, loud and clear, that Texas and Oklahoma also have a very progressive legacy. The Farmers’ Alliance movement began in these states. Populism held particular sway in the early part of the 20th century before the monied interests began campaigns to convince people that a popularly elected government was bad for the populace. Labor unions and Native Americans helped to write the Oklahoma Constitution. Texas had the only closed-shop unionized town in the entire United States.
I believe in the Texas and Oklahoma of Will Rogers, Lyndon B. Johnson, Ann Richards, Molly Ivins, Frank Dobie, Willie Nelson, Angie Debo, Samuel Maverick, Wilma Mankiller, Sam Rayburn, and C. Wright Patman. That’s the strain of tolerance, acceptance, and common sense that I hope begins to show up again in this region. These people, and countless others, are the epitome of “Americaness” – they looked out for each other, documented our heritage, worked for the people, exposed corruption, and stayed true to the American idea.
And that’s why I am so excited about Barack Obama’s win. His win is a continuation of the idea. Because that’s what being an American is: it’s not about race, or religion, or the language you speak, or whether you’re upper class or working class. To be an American, one only has to accept, hold true, and defend that beautiful, simple, yet chain-breaking idea: that all men are created equal, and have the right to life, liberty, and finding happiness.
Barack Obama’s election epitomizes the definition of Americaness, and I’m so, so grateful.
