Obama is finally president

Although we knew this day was coming for the past 10 weeks, it has finally arrived and Obama is finally the 44th president of the United States. Today was largely a day of celebration, while tomorrow the hard work begins. Obama no doubt faces some daunting challenges both on the home front and global front. Still although he may be entering the White House at a less than ideal time, this is a time when we need strong leaders and I believe Obama is the right person to lead the country through this difficult time. Many people argued Obama's great speeches, charisma, and call to unity were symbolic and meaningless when it came to how he would argue, but I would argue that if we are going to make it through the current crisis, one thing the US and the world needs is a strong sense of unity and willingness to work together. Under Obama, he can help bring people together rather than polarize the country. Polarizing a country is never good, but it is especially bad during a recession. I don't expect Obama to be a messiah and I do expect he will make some mistakes as every president has and any human being would, but for me the main question will be in 2012, is the United States and the world better than it is now or worse. I am quite confidence the former will be the answer and that is ultimately how I will judge Obama's presidency.

Today was also a historic one in many cases as Martin Luther King Jr's dream of creating a society where people would be judged by the content of their character not the colour of their skin became reality. Some will say race should be a total non-issue, but I would argue the election of an African-American president is a big one when one considers the United States history. As recently as the 60s, many Southern states still had segregation laws that required Blacks to use separate facilities that were often of poorer quality and used literacy tests and various other methods to keep as many Blacks as possible away from the polls. This is no doubt a shameful part of American history, but the fact they can move beyond that to one day elect a Black president shows the ability of the nation to change and that no matter how many awful things it does, it has the power to do much good and more importantly the power to correct its mistakes. I can fully understand why for some many Blacks not just in the United States, but globally this is such a historic moment. Many who had grand dreams always faced the worry that they could never achieve those dreams not because they weren't capable, but simply because of the colour of the skin and the way society judged them for that. With the inaugration of Barack Obama, this has sent a message to Black people (and people of all races as a matter of fact) than you can reach dreams if you have the will and the desire and that the colour of your skin will not act as a barrier. While the effects of this may not be known immediately, I think this will give a strong sense of hope to many Black people who simply felt their colour of their skin held them back from reaching their full potential, but now it is shown this is a relic of the past and that the future is wide open. I especially understand how emotional this must be for many older African-Americans who saw first hand the horrors of racism, segregation, and Jim Crow Laws. To many, this is a sweet vindication that their struggles for equality and freedom have paid off and as painful as they were at the moment, the day that Martin Luther King Jr's dream would be realized would come in their lifetime. I remember when I was only 13 how a big a deal the election of Nelson Mandela in South Africa was, so I think the election of someone from a race who historically faced much discrimination and injustices is truly historic and something to be proud of. Here in Toronto, many in the Black community were rejoicing at this moment and certainly for many, the history of facing discrimination is all to real, even here in Canada.

Like any historic moment, the question asked is always where were you? Today, I decided to take my lunch break early at 11:50 saw I could watch Obama's swearing in and his speech when they actually happened. We had a television in our lunch room so that is where I watched out and many others where I worked were also there to watch this historic moment. While the swearing in seemed to have a few hitches, his speech hit the right notes. In may have not been his best in style, but when looking at the substance, he said the right things. Now he needs to deliver on those and all the evidence I have seen today suggests he will.