Black Achievement

We as a country have just been through a historic election. I am white and think it is fantastic that a black man has been elected President of the US. However, I do have some concerns that his election may not be just a repudiation of the Bush administration but also race based. If it proves to be race based then it is a slap in the face to all people. Dr. King stated "I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character." To many times I have heard or read that people were voting for him because he was black. I read today that this proves that blacks can succeed. This statement is truly ignorant. There are a great many people in the black community that have reached great heights of success, to say that becoming the President of the US means blacks can succeed is ignorant. Let me just list a few people whose accomplishments have now been belittled - Thurgood Marshall 1st black Supreme Court Justice, Clarence Thomas Supreme Court Justice, Dr. King who successfully lead the civil rights movement, Bill Cosby, Halle Berry, and Denzel Washington successful black entertainers, Robert L Johnson - founder of BET, George Washington Carver an agricultural chemist during a time when it was hard for a black man to do this, Frederick Douglas great black leader and orator, Various musical artist and sports stars, Colin Powell - a general and first black chairman of the joint chiefs of state as well as the first black Secretary of State, Condoleeza Rice current secretary of state and accomplished pianist, JC Watts - noted OK congressman, Ken Blackwell former Secretary of State for OH and current commentator for FoxNews, Michael Steele former Lt. Gov of Maryland, Juan Williams NPR correspondent and noted journalist. I could go on and on but blacks in this country especially since the Civil Rights movement have been succeeding because they chose to work hard and they did not let their skin color hamper their ambition. Did they face discrimination along the way - I am sure they did but everyone including whites face some form of discrimination. Please don't say that a black man becoming President proves that the black community can succeed - you were successful long before this moment.