A positive outcome of the Barack Obama election

Yes, I found something positive about the election of Barack Obama.

Every year the Friends of the Library hold an annual sale to raise funds for library projects. One of the more obvious things I noticed is that, in spite of the population being almost split 50% white and 50% black here in Sumter, there were rarely any black people at the book sale.

One of the problems with the education here is that black people consider learning to be a white person’s responsibility. If a black student shows any initiative to learn they are mocked by their fellow black students and told they are trying to act white.

This year that has all changed. Every day there are more and more black faces in the crowd and often there are as many black people as white. I attribute this to the election of Barack Obama. His election has given them the freedom to learn, the desire to learn, the knowledge that knowledge is power and to get any place in life they have to read and learn and get educated. We always have a great African American section and since some of are fiction those books sell. But this year the black people are buying the books on the history of black America and this excites me. It excites me to talk with them and recommend books and in the exchange they also learn that being white doesn’t mean being a racist. We have talked, laughed, and they will thank me – sometimes with a tone of surprise in their voices – but always we come away with a new respect for each other. One woman looked in surprise, as she was going through the books on the African American table, and I asked if she had read a couple books and told her I had loved them. The look on her face told it all. She realized in that moment that white people were just as interested in learning about the black experience.

So, even though I still have issues with Barack Obama as president and still don’t have a lot of confidence he can pull it off without disaster, I will give him credit that he has given hope to the black community that they can rise above themselves, but that in doing so they must take responsibility, get an education, and not blame others for their lot in life. He has shown you can be whatever you want if you study hard, learn, and take responsibility for your own life.

Also, on another note it gives me great pleasure to see he is considering Hillary Clinton as Secretary of State. That could be the smartest move he will make as president.