I Can't Believe I Voted For A Black Man [View All]

I just got back from the polling station. The line was decently long, but I was in and out in an hour. I brought along someone who had never voted before - she voted for Obama. Anyhow, everything was as cool as a cucumber until I stepped in to my office just now and it hit me:

I voted for a black man.

I'm not black. My best friend is. Not that any of that seemingly matters, but somehow it does. Most of my friends are of some minority status since I grew up in the slums of San Diego. I thought about what this moment would mean when the time finally came and I didn't think it would effect me. In the end, I would vote for the person who was most qualified to hold the highest office, regardless of his ancestry. But the feeling is overwhelming as I sit here quiet. I feel a great sense of pride in being a United States citizen today.

Earlier, I remembered a conversation I had back in my military days. A few of my black friends and I were bullshitting about politics and we all agreed we'd probably see a woman or someone of latin decent be president before a black man. It just seemed so impossible given the blatant racism we had all witnessed living in Virginia at the time. I'm so glad we were wrong. Virginia is now a bastion of progessive thinking. Who would have thought?

Today is not the tomorrow I thought it was going to be yesterday. And that's a wonderful thing. I wonder what tomorrow is going to be like.