A New Dawn...

I realized that electing a black President would be historic, but I never realized that it very well could be life changing.

Today my black students and other students of color can say that there is no glass ceiling to them acheiving their dreams. They may face barriers, but the ceiling is gone. Today if they did not have a good example of what it means to be a black man, they have it now. They have a representation of someone who looks like them being successful. How important is this when most residence of jails and prisons are black men? How important is this when a majority of black children grow up without their biological fathers or father figures in general? How important is this when black children are tempted to not "become white" by pursuing academics by thugs when they see the White House as the home of a black family?

And then there was the change in me. I would love to say that it was conversion that made me believe in racial equality. And to an extent, the Bible solidifying my beliefs on justice and God's affirmation of racial diversity, but today as I walk around campus at Duke and pass black men, no matter their station, I think to myself..."Oh, he or she can be the next President, that he or she can do anything a white person could do." That thought is replacing the other thought that has always sat in the back of my mind which my culture has taught me, "Is that black man dangerous to me, a white woman?"

Praise God for this! This is part of what forgiveness and reconciliation means in the Bible. Our sinful ways and our negative feelings are replaced with godly and positive thoughts. Finding this change in my thoughts, I don't think I ever realized just how racist ideologies had been deeply embedded in my mind. God, will you renew and change our minds in this transition of our democracy and society. And may we never deny the evil of slavery and racism in the past and in the present just because we have chosen a black President.