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An Epic Day in U.S. History
I had to give myself the day today to digest what just transpired and to reflect on the significance of this event. After watching a quarter of a million people gather in the streets of Chicago and people around the country and the world celebrating the election of this country’s first African American president, I began to realize the magnitude of the hope it has inspired.
I was also thinking about this: it was only 44 years ago that the Civil Rights Act was signed into law. It’s passage overcame a 54 day filibuster led by Richard Russell the Georgian democrat and the “Southern Bloc” of former confederate state senators. Said Russell at the time,
We will resist to the bitter end any measure or any movement which would have a tendency to bring about social equality and intermingling and amalgamation of the races in our (Southern) states.
Wow. What a long way we’ve come.
This election doesn’t solve the world’s problems. But for many, it’s a reason to hope.