We are only hours away from a historic election day. Tomorrow may be the day we elect our first African American president. If Barack Obama gets elected, we will become one step closer to fulfilling Dr. Martin Luther King's dream; a dream where all men are treated equally. He was a visionary and a leader who saw great things for his people.
This election could be a special moment for us to share with our grandchildren. They will sit on our laps as we tell them about the first elected African American president.
We will tell them about the journey of the first Africans to America on rat infested wooden slave ships…proud Africans enslaved because of their skin color. After arriving in America, African families were separated as parents helplessly watched their children get bought and sold like cattle.
There were no human rights activists or social service agencies to stop these injustices. With no concern for human rights or freedoms, slaves became property.
For the slaves who prayed for the freedom of their children and grandchildren, there prayers would go unanswered for years. Under hardship and stress, these proud people carried on with their lives and fought to become free. After the Civil War, slavery was legally abolished.
Free from their chains, the African people were still slaves to segregation, racism and hate. With time and patience, segregation laws also came to an end. No longer were public restrooms and coffee shops separated by signs referencing to skin color.
As a nation, we still experience racism in the workplace and in our personal lives. If we elect the first African American president, it will be a positive step towards closing the race gap. Electing the first black president will require Caucasian voters to look past racism and skin color. They will need to see Obama as the man who can lead us to prosperity and mending broken relationships with the American people and foreign nations.
It's been a long journey.
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