As a Canadian, and a relatively young one at that, I have never witnessed an inauguration. American politics did not make it onto my radar until 2004, when I dated a Poli Sci student in university who had to watch the election that saw Bush into office a second time as his homework. The fact that the entire campus was abuzz with anti-Bush sentiments encouraged me to check out what was happening with my southern neighbours, and if the rumours were really true — if they were really going to elect this guy for a second time. Flukes are flukes and I think after four years we can all accept this; four years is a long time to hold a grudge. Alas, it was long enough for some to forget and forgive, some to stick to what they knew, and others to lose interest completely. The lackluster finish by Kerry resulted in a triumph for Bush, and a second triumph at that. Yahtzee.
I had heard the whispers of a name from some of my American friends who were into politics in a big way. A black senator from Illinois who was somehow making headway. I regurgitated this name to my family, a band of immigrants who have settled all over the world (including London, what is now known as Harare, Zimbabwe, Montreal, and finally Toronto) and I distinctly remember it being eschewed with the wave of a hand and an “it’s too early for that sort of talk.” At the time that seemed like a reasonable sentiment, a time where the only America that existed in my mind was one portrayed as a gas guzzling war machine with the likes of Michael Moore attempting to single-handedly stave off the ignorance and disenchantment of a nation. What his films lacked in facts they made up for in passion; a common man striving for a better tomorrow. This was all we had to combat the Bush administration: a fat liberal with a camera crew.
“It’s too early for that sort of talk” was not the attitude a certain senator could ever take to heart. And after hearing this man speak it seems virtually impossible for him to be capable of faltering, setting his dreams aside, or putting his ambition on hiatus. It’s never too early, I’m sure he would say, for anything; especially dreams. This was the sort of confidence that was necessary to uproot the listless citizens out of their Bush-induced stupor and out to rallies, to the campaign trail, to the ballots. This young, charismatic senator stood in front of an audience somewhere in the United States and commanded their rapt attention, and when he opened his mouth and spoke, he had their votes. Platforms aside, a leader can be spotted from space. We as people are drawn to strength, drawn to charisma, and drawn to youth. These three ingredients made for one delicious result come November, when it became clear that change was the new theme. Nine states switched allegiances from Republican to Democratic since the 2004 election when Barack Obama’s name appeared before them on the ballot.
My expectations as a spectator were that change was enough of a theme to ring some truth throughout the land. Not only was it thematic for the campaign trail, but it was living, breathing proof standing before us: a black man trying to become president. Voter turnout for the 2008 election was, unsurprisingly, the highest it has been in the last 40 years. Change was upon us all, and it felt so good. The disenchanted were filled with hope, the disinterested riled with passion, and the young witnessing a gradual wave of old rules making way for the new. Equality, on paper, is an admirable and already-achieved goal in the United States. Equality amongst sexes, amongst ethnicities; but it is not until a president “whose father, less than 60 years ago might not have been served at a local restaurant can now stand before you to take a most sacred oath.” His dark hand on the Lincoln Bible was a comforting hand on the shoulder of a single mother, an assuring embrace of the aging and defeated, an encouraging push to a child with a dream, and the first African-American hand to be placed firmly and humbly on the bible as he is sworn in to become the highest leader of the United States of America.
As for our common defense, we reject as false the choice between our safety and our ideals. Our Founding Fathers, faced with perils we can scarcely imagine, drafted a charter to assure the rule of law and the rights of man, a charter expanded by the blood of generations. Those ideals still light the world, and we will not give them up for expedience’s sake. And so to all other peoples and governments who are watching today, from the grandest capitals to the small village where my father was born: know that America is a friend of each nation and every man, woman, and child who seeks a future of peace and dignity, and that we are ready to lead once more. — President Barack Obama’s inauguration address
