Obamapalooza. Barackstock. Whatever you want to call it, the 2009 Presidential Inauguration is sure to be an unprecedented event. With performances by Beyoncé, Jay-Z, Kanye West and many more, and with millions of tourists traveling to Washington, D.C. to see it, it seems more like a big party than the solemn occasion that one would expect for the swearing in of the 44th president of the United States.
However, when the party is over and the guests have all gone home, one question will linger: What now? This is a question that has haunted me since the election of Barack Obama last November. Yes, I admit it. I will come out of the political closet and confess that I was not a supporter of Barack Obama. However, at this point it really does not matter who anyone voted for because, as of today, he is our president. Therefore, the only thing to do, despite partisanship, is to hope that he can keep his endless promises of hope and change.
Last week I went to a panel discussion held in the College of Education titled What does the election of President-Elect Barack Obama mean to you? I hoped that hearing what it meant for them might help me to establish what it would mean for me.
When I got to the room, I was surprised to see how full the small McCracken classroom was. It was absolutely jam-packed. I found one of the few empty seats near the back and waited for enlightenment. After the panelists introduced themselves, I resisted a strong urge to leave. Although the panel was diverse in gender and race there was one aspect in which they were clearly alike: every member of the panel was clearly a Democrat.
However, I decided to stay and hear them out. I'm glad I did. I thought the way that the election of Barack Obama affected diversity in the United States was clear. Obviously, an African-American has never been president, or even a serious candidate, so clearly this would be a step forward for the black community. However, I never really considered what his election would mean for diversity in general. After all, diversity has never been a black and white issue.
One of the panelists had a very insightful view on this topic. He described diversity, whether it be race, gender, sexual orientation, or anything else that makes people different from one another, as a topic that is not kosher to talk about in the United States. We can see examples of this every day. Last week I was watching 30 Rock and laughed as one of the characters, Jack, asked his girlfriend, What do you call yourself again? She answers that she is Puerto Rican and he responds, I know you can say that
but what do I call you? And it's true. People have become so careful to be politically correct, that they can't even express themselves without fear of being offensive.
If you don't talk about differences, you also won't talk about what you have in common. However, the election of Barack Obama makes it feel OK to talk about diversity. It is the beginning of a whole new dialogue. My hope is that in the next four years, we will take advantage of this opportunity and talk about these issues with less fear of who will be offended and more hope for, to quote the big man himself, change.
Christina Stanek is a senior studying Spanish education. Send her an e-mail at cs348305@ohiou.edu. 4
Opinion
Christina Stanek
