So tonight, let us ask ourselves – if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made? – President-Elect Barack Obama, Nov. 4, 2008
Dear President Obama:
I’m writing this letter to you to not as an African-American, or even as a Democrat, but as a fellow father. When it became clear that you were going to be the next leader of this country, I thought first of my children, especially the one waiting to be born. Yes, you are already an inspiration to my young son, who was with me when I voted for you in both the Democratic primaries and the general election, but not because of your skin color, Mr. President. For me, your victory was a victory for decency in this country. For the first time I feel that the hate and intolerant thought that we are allowed to display as one of our inalienable rights is the exception, rather than the rule. Those who called for your death at rallies, using the word “Muslim” as if it were a slur, were silenced for at least one night. Those real terrorists, the hatemongers, were witness to the country saying “enough” with a resounding and definite vote for change and were left to cower in their caves of bigotry. I wasn’t just proud; I was relieved. I was relieved that my son would be allowed to hold onto his innocence just a little longer. That I could tell him with a straight face that the country he is growing up in is fundamentally good.
Many of your supporters have been maligned for indulging in an “audacity of hope,” that the inspiration you give us is a “drug” that we have collectively overdosed on. Well, I’m here to say that those critics are right. As a parent, hope is a fundamental part of my daily life. When I drop my son off at school every morning, I leave him in the hands of his teachers, hoping that they will nurture and protect him as I would. I hope that the lessons that I have taught him will guide him throughout his day and ultimately his life. I hope that, when I see him again, we are both better people in some small way. Because of their innocence and purity, we saddle our children with lofty ideals that we ourselves have problems following with the hope that they will be better than we are. By electing you-a very real symbol of this country’s hope to judge each other not by the color of one’s skin, but the content of one’s character-America has told me that the things we teach our children are not merely hopeful; they are sincere.
President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama, I’m asking you to not think of the campaign promises you made to me and the millions who voted for you, but of the promise we’ve both made to our children as parents. Do your job, but don’t let those T-shirts and buttons go to your head. You are not Superman. I wear the cape in my house. I just need you to keep the sky clear when I fly to work.
