Tomorrow should be an ordinary day. Some call the Inauguration of Barack Obama the dawn of a new era. But I hope my daughter (all 9 weeks of her) some day looks back on January 20, 2009, as nothing particularly remarkable. To be sure, tomorrow is a major event in this nation's history: Nearly 150 years after Lincoln's Proclamation and 45 years after the Civil Rights Act, a Dream deferred may no longer be denied. Tomorrow the world will bear witness as Barack Obama takes the Oath of Office as the 44th President of the United States. It will be a momentous day, but I hope my daughter's generation will view Obama's ascent as the triumph of ideas and policies in a quadrennial contest, not a Civil-Rights-Era statement.
We can't overstate the significance this election has for the country (and possibly the world). Nor should we underestimate the sense of pride, accomplishment, or relief that many (particularly in the African-American community) feel. This presidency, however, should inspire all of us. As hope gives way to possiblity, we are reminded that in America all things are possible, at least with a healthy dose of hard work and perserverence (and, yes, a little luck). Obama is the beacon that lights the way.
We have high hopes, and even weightier expectations, for Obama. But his legacy already may have taken shape, whatever his successes or failures. He already has inspired the next generation to look within themselves and see limitless possibility ahead. It is not Obama's extraordinariness that inspires; it is his utter ordinariness -- he is like us -- and his modest beginnings and even his skin color that confirm that all things are possible. Every child, every person, can look to him as a mirror and see that possiblity within themselves. In the future my daughter will look back at this day and will know that character and ideas matter most, and she, too, can do anything.
