The Winning President

There was a worldwide celebration when President Barack Obama was announced the winner of the US presidential election. There was so much hoopla everywhere. The people I saw on TV interviews exuded excitement and enthusiasm. For a change, in this last election it didn't seem like it was a Republican versus a Democrat competition.

It was a triumph of another kind. For the first time, this is mentioned hundreds perhaps thousands of times, an African-American won the presidential race. There are numerous African-Americans coming out and becoming more active during the presidential campaign and much much more during the inauguration day.

I have nothing against the African-American people but I think and I feel that when there is always a mention of an individual's race or colour there is always some tinge of racism. In the case at hand for example, I don't want to be the party pooper, but can we stop mentioning always that President Obama is the first African-American President? Can we not be like that grade school student who looked at the winner as the present President who will be in charge of the country and will take care of the people.

I'm not discounting all the effort and sweat and tears and sufferings and lives of everyone who worked hard so that there would be equality and everybody's rights will be protected. This is the culmination of their advocacy.

Let's not focus on the colour of the President. This undermines the value of the previous presidents and might have the same effect on the future African-American presidents. Let's acknowledge the winner as the winner because he is the most qualified and the one best suited to hold office. Let's be like a child. Why is he the winner? Because he is the best candidate. Because he has the abilities. Because he has the personality. Because he is the best person for it.

I'm hoping that race, gender, age, and ability will be used as adjectives and not as "classification".