Election Reactions

So, unless you've been living under a rock, you must know that Barack Obama is the 44th president of the United States. I was at WHYY all night, so I was listening to commentary and monitoring CNN very closely. As soon as PA went blue, I was able to breathe again.

I spent some time at the local polling place and at the office of State Senate candidate, John Linder. It was so surreal to see people with walkers coming in to submit their vote and to hear about the lines that snaked around the block. There is no doubt that it is a historic day for our country, but there were also some sobering results:

In California, for example, Propisition 8 (which bans same-sex marriage), passed. Proponents of same-sex marriage will not let this issue die easily, but why did it pass? And in Florida, Amendment 1 was a measure that would repeal an old law banning Asian immigrants from owning property there. The ban cannot be applied because of federal equal protection laws, but in Florida, with 78% of precincts reporting, 52% had voted to preserve the clause! Can you imagine??

So people throughout the US are rejoicing. Obama's election symbolizes the role of race in our culture. But results from California and Florida show how far we have to go before all men are truly treated as equals.