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Residents marvel at Obama's triumph over racial barriers
Thursday, November 06, 2008
Springfield, Ohio — For many black Americans, Tuesday, Nov. 4, was a day in which the countless obstacles and hurts of history were transformed into reasons for more fully celebrating the enormous achievement at hand.
"My daddy would do a jig in the street to know that a black man was elected by the people of the United States," said Springfield City Commissioner Orphus Taylor.
Even though he was forced to pay a poll tax in the West Virginia of her youth, "my daddy never missed an election. Rain, snow, my daddy always voted," she said. "I was very proud of him for that."
Taylor, 75, remembers being bused for miles each day around white schools in the segregated state system before finishing high school in a town that refused to serve ice cream to black students in the drug store that sold it.
"You had to take it out somewhere," she said.
An overjoyed Edna Bacon said, "I'm like a hog in slop."
Bacon, 60, whose mother, Dorothy, was a local civil rights activist, contrasted Tuesday's vote with the wider sweep of American history.
"There was no provision whatever made for people of color in the Constitution, though they had brought thousands and thousands of them" from Africa as slave laborers, she said.
"And to think that as recent as 1964, they had to have a bill passed to get people the right to vote," she said.
Some of the nation's founding fathers — and particularly those who owned slaves — "are rolling over in their graves," she said.
Robert Lucas, 96, saw things in a similar context.
"The black man was the only one that was forced to come here," he said, "and yet has moved to a role of leadership."
That achievement is like "no other race of people you can look at," he said, because immigrants who were white "sort of melted into society and became leaders."
Because that path was not open to blacks, he said, Obama's election "is a very commendable thing."
Added Lucas, "I hope the common talk of assassination does not materialize."
Lucas said his first memories of racial awareness involved being told by his teachers not to kiss the white girls on the playground at McKinley Elementary School.
And of those he remembers from his early life in Springfield, the very independent minded black attorney Sully Jaymes is one who came to his mind on election eve.
"He didn't seem to fear any white man that walked," Lucas said. "I know he would jump up and down" at the news of Obama's election.
For Taylor, the shifting course of the campaign led to mixed emotions and hopes.
"When Hillary (Clinton) was running, I wanted to see a woman in the White House. I really did," she said.
When Obama's candidacy grew stronger, her hopes shifted to the possibility that he'd break the color barrier in a White House that always had been occupied by whites.
"It was wonderful," she said. "I think Obama will do a good job. I think he is a good man" who has another strong attribute, she said, "his wife. She is funny."
Bacon, too, expresses a kind of familial connection with the first family elect.
"They will be beautiful, exemplary role models for our country and the people of all countries," she said.
Because of her multiple sclerosis, Bacon said she won't be able to go to Washington, D.C., for Obama's inaugural, which will be a particularly joyful event for black Americans.
But one of her sons, Malyyke, will be making the trip.
Black Americans weren't the only ones celebrating the occasion.
Amy Risteff, a 32-year-old mother of three, said she'd voted this year for the first time since she was 18 and in doing so, thought of her grandmother, Mary LeValley, who had wanted to vote for Jesse Jackson.
Old enough to have come from the era when whites called blacks "colored," her grandmother nonetheless "looked past race" and would be happy at Obama's election, she said.
Risteff said she voted for Obama for another reason.
"I had felt forever that my voice didn't count because there was so much money involved. I was just one person, and I didn't feel like one person had that power," she said.
"But many just one persons came together this time," she said, "and I could feel that happening. There was an energy about this election that made it more electric."
The result inspired her to write a poem in which she celebrated being "a proud citizen and partner of ... the truly United States."
Lucas spoke of the same kind of hope.
"I think we're headed for one of the most fascinating periods in history," he said — fascinating enough that he's planning to see it.
Said Lucas, "I want to be 120 before I go."
Contact this reporter at (937) 328-0368 or tstafford@coxohio.com.
Comments
By voter
November 6, 2008 11:16 PM | Link to this
This should NOT be about race. Why is it that black people WANT to make it about race? Obama would be more of a uniter if he spoke as if he was proud of being both black AND white…and that we should all be of the same equality. He is actually the one to bring up race during the campaign. No present-day white people are responsible for slavery. I have friends of all races. Most of the time, we can forget that we are different at all. We are all responsible for our OWN success.
By Bers
November 6, 2008 1:03 PM | Link to this
Hurray for America! A barrier to equality has come down, I am prouder than ever of my country. Regardless of what happens next, this is an historic moment. Anyone who fails to recognize that is missing out on something important.
By John
November 6, 2008 11:47 AM | Link to this
Part 2 I remember when Julian Bond ran in ‘76. And of course we remeber Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton. Let’s not get confused. I think it is the whites who deserve a pat on the back.
By John
November 6, 2008 11:44 AM | Link to this
I think it is more of a testament to how far whites have come. That enough of them have outlived the prejudice that has been heaped on us. Even yesterday as I was out and about I overheard some whites commenting that now “we ” will see more and more of “them”. We shouldn’t be naive enough to think that this is the first time a person of color has come along who was qualified to run this country.
I am old enough to remember that Shirley Chisolm ran for president in the early ’70s.
By Roger Warren
November 6, 2008 11:40 AM | Link to this
Mr. Lucas - I first met you in 1958 as a childhood friend of your son, Gillem, and I just want you to know that you and your late wife left a wholesome, positive and lasting impression on this white kid. Your home was only the second black home I had ever been invited into and I thank you for giving me a glimpse into your wonderful life.
By rick
November 6, 2008 11:39 AM | Link to this
This was not a black or white thing just leave it alone.
By Roger
November 6, 2008 11:15 AM | Link to this
You’re right, Randy, Obama is only half-black, but many house slaves in the plantations of the Deep South were only half-black too, largely due to improprieties of slave owners and overseers, with many house slaves actually being sons and daughters of the owner, and being only half-black made them no less black. And to Mr. Robert Lucas - I first met you in 1958 as a childhood friend of Gillem, and you, your wife and family left a deep, positive and limpression on this white kid - thank you.
By Ecartman
November 6, 2008 10:27 AM | Link to this
In the spirit of reaching across the aisle, we owe it to the Democrats to show their president the exact same kind of respect and loyalty that they have shown our recent Republican president.
By Peggy
November 6, 2008 10:24 AM | Link to this
I believe that Pres. Elect Obama will go down in history of the finest president this country has ever had. He has the dignity and integrity and a great calmness about his person, and thinks things through. He is a great example of more persons should be like. I am impressed with his devotion to his wife and family. Yes we can America, Yes we can !! Hurray for Obama, and all Americans. Realize I am a caucasion, and a register Rep., and vobut saw the truth spoken very plainly and elequently
By Peggy
November 6, 2008 10:24 AM | Link to this
I believe that Pres. Elect Obama will go down in history of the finest president this country has ever had. He has the dignity and integrity and a great calmness about his person, and thinks things through. He is a great example of more persons should be like. I am impressed with his devotion to his wife and family. Yes we can America, Yes we can !! Hurray for Obama, and all Americans. Realize I am a caucasion, and a register Rep., and vobut saw the truth spoken very plainly and elequently
By MC Gentry
November 6, 2008 9:01 AM | Link to this
The election of Barack Obama as President of the United States is a proud moment for peoples from all walks of life.
I am proud to know that our oldest living relative, Robert Lucas, has been blessed to live to see this marvelous event taking place in our history.
Proud moreso,of my grandchildren for the first time in their lives having obtained the age of 18 this year, have the privilege and opportunity to vote, to witness this living history, a path carved for them through generations
By randy
November 6, 2008 8:59 AM | Link to this
i dont see the big deal he is only half black first of all and so what if he is black this is why there is still raceism people keep bringing it up and rubbing it in now if obama lost people would blame it on his color and thats the truth personaly i really like obama and i think he will start cleaning this country up and start fixing GWBs mistakes and problems i think he is a great leader thats why i voted for him and im looking forward to having him as president