congrats obama. historic! i hope this event will not allow african americans to use race as an excuse for anything anymore in this country.
Yeah, all racism/ bigotry/ inequality has been eradicated . No offense, NYCB, race is still a factor in American life - events help dampen that down, but will not singularly change the way some people look at black people. Obama didn't part the water and lead his (1/2!) people to the promised land, and that's not his job. Condi Rice and Colin Powell's achievements didn't erase racism either.
And everyone has excuses. Repubs were blaming the entire financial crisis on equal housing opportunity legislation; McCain supporters talk about the "liberal media," excuses all.
Again - historic moment, and I hope it leads to change, a more tolerant nation, and people who are more actively working to overcome adversity to reach better outcomes. But all those things are still going to take work.
you can never eradicated the racism/bigotry/inequality that has occurred, but CHANGE is here. so lets move forward and quit the BS. from a career perspective black men have proven they can obtain any profession. PERIOD. so no more oppression, glass ceiling, politics, talk. there are no more excuses.
You can't eradicate the bigotry that's still in people with a moment. Hopefully people's minds are changing, but I can't agree with your "period." If you believe there was racism a day before yesterday, why would 52% of the popular vote convince you that it's gone? How does one man's effort mean everyone who identifies as black can reach the heights of any profession?
Whether or not voters and policy-makers agree that we're post-racism, it's important for anyone who wants to achieve something for themselves to work their tails off and not accept failure; that's been true in the past and it'll be true today and tomorrow. Excuses never got someone hired, and excuses never paid the bills. All I'm saying is that Obama's election is a great moment, but doesn't mean race is no longer a factor.
It is a sign that it's a factor that can be overcome, and that it isn't a crushing factor for capable people who identify as black (or anything out of the plural mainstream, or who don't look like "real America"). Just because Hillary almost got the Democratic nod, and just because Sarah Palin was a popular figure as a VP candidate doesn't mean that there isn't a glass ceiling for capable women. And to be fair, I don't think people should make excuses either (and I don't know these excuse-makers), that's not how I was raised. And I think inequality should be analyzed/ addressed based on economic levels rather than race.