The Promise of America
5 November 2008
President-elect Barack Obama's victory speech last night elicited tears of joy and smiles of satisfaction in Chicago's Grant Park, in former slave-holding sections of the country, and in countless living rooms across our land. It inspired hope far from American shores. Most of all, Obama's election reminded all of us about the Promise of America.
For more than a century historians have written about the United States as more than a place or a society -- Americans as more than a people or a culture. From Frederick Jackson Turner to C. Vann Woodward historians have described America as an aspiration encompassing many things. Americans are tolerant and prejudiced, they accept extremes of wealth of poverty, and they revere individualism and community. Americans are scoundrels and people of honor at the same time. American citizens are continually re-making themselves.
Those insights from historians were echoed in the words President-elect Obama so eloquently quoted from Abraham Lincoln and Matin Luther King, Jr. America is the "last, best hope" for the world. It is always distant from, but striving for the "promised land." Senator John McCain's dignified and thoughtful concession speech -- one of the best I have ever heard in that genre -- made the same point. The faces of hardened activists, struggling businesspeople, and young citizens personified that promise.
This was an exceptional election in an exceptional society. The United States is not better than other countries, but it nurtures a remarkably rich reservoir of energy, creativity, and hope. That is what Barack Obama's election is all about. Amidst our greed, our violence, and our fragmentation, we are also selfless, humane, and united. The black son of a Kenyan farmer will lead a former slave-holding country in a time of profound global uncertainty. That is the promise of America. I have never been prouder to be an American.
For more than a century historians have written about the United States as more than a place or a society -- Americans as more than a people or a culture. From Frederick Jackson Turner to C. Vann Woodward historians have described America as an aspiration encompassing many things. Americans are tolerant and prejudiced, they accept extremes of wealth of poverty, and they revere individualism and community. Americans are scoundrels and people of honor at the same time. American citizens are continually re-making themselves.
Those insights from historians were echoed in the words President-elect Obama so eloquently quoted from Abraham Lincoln and Matin Luther King, Jr. America is the "last, best hope" for the world. It is always distant from, but striving for the "promised land." Senator John McCain's dignified and thoughtful concession speech -- one of the best I have ever heard in that genre -- made the same point. The faces of hardened activists, struggling businesspeople, and young citizens personified that promise.
This was an exceptional election in an exceptional society. The United States is not better than other countries, but it nurtures a remarkably rich reservoir of energy, creativity, and hope. That is what Barack Obama's election is all about. Amidst our greed, our violence, and our fragmentation, we are also selfless, humane, and united. The black son of a Kenyan farmer will lead a former slave-holding country in a time of profound global uncertainty. That is the promise of America. I have never been prouder to be an American.
| 1. November 05 2008 04:20 PM | "The black son of a Kenyan farmer...." Yes, and he will take the oath on January 20 on the steps of the U.S. Capitol, steps and a building built by slaves.
--Posted by Robert M Rosenberg | |
| 2. November 05 2008 05:44 PM | Notwithstanding the many contradictions in our society that can and do stifle talent, nevertheless I still think that there are few places on earth where talent has a greater opportunity to be recognized. For all our imperfections, the American idea still has the power to deliver opportunity to those with promise. --Posted by Alan Greene | |
